
Copyright}! . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SCIEETIEIC FAITH 



BY 

HOWAKD AGNEW JOHNSTON, Ph. D., D. D. 

AUTHOR OF 

"BIBLE CRITICISM AND THE AVERAGE MAN," "STUDIES FOR PERSONAL 
WORKERS," ETC. 



CHICAGO, ILL. 

THE WINONA PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1904 



2>T?*oo 



UF*?35?YofCON6RES3 
Tvw> Oogies Received 
AUG 19 1904 

f i CoDyrfjrht Entry 

pA-^L t J - f <*f & 4- 
CLASS ft. XX©. No. 

COPY B 



COPYRIGHT 1904 

BY 

THE WINONA PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



AUGUST. 



To ?tts TOif » 



INTKODTJCTTOK 

The scientific atmosphere permeates the thinking 
world of today; but much of the scholastic method 
persists in current discussion. In the realm of re- 
ligious teaching many words and phrases still linger 
as the ear-marks of different schools of thought. 
Some of these terms are appropriate; others are un- 
fortunate. It would be helpful if the statement of 
the truth which represents the reasonableness of the 
Christian faith could be free from certain stereo- 
typed phrases, and enjoy the advantage of expres- 
sion in a way not encumbered by old prejudices. 
The truth would not suffer if a fresh mode of state- 
ment should mark its emphasis. 

In attempting the ambitious task of enlisting the 
reader's interest in the age-long fundamentals of the 
Christian faith, much of the traditional material 
has been set aside. This is not to deny its import- 
ance or validity. But since the power of the truth 
is revealed finally only in experience, it is evident 
that if the experience of the thinking world of our 
own time may be called to witness to the truth of 
the argument presented, the effectiveness of the 
statement will be greatly increased. And since this 
current experience is familiar with the scientific 
method of research, with its appeal to experimental 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

facts, the discussion seeks to lead the reader by this 
pathway. 

Brevity is always at the risk of clearness. The 
need, however, is for a concise discussion. There- 
fore it is necessary to ask the reader to consider care- 
fully each step in the argument, before coming to a 
conclusion. It is hoped the marginal notes suggest- 
ing the line of thought in each paragraph, will prove 
an assistance. The reader is requested to read these 
notes over again at the close of each chapter, should 
there be a desire to recall clearly the fulness of the 
argument. 

This book is sent forth with the prayerful hope 
that it will prove helpful to many in confirming and 
establishing the reasonableness and the reality of the 
Christian faith. 

Howard Agnew Johnston. 
New York, 1904. 



CONTENTS. 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 

Page. 
An age of facts. Increasing stability in the thinking 
world. Fact and mystery. The scientific method. 
Facts in the moral realm. The case of Prof. 
Romanes. Who is the broad-minded man? The 
facts which relate to character. Jesus Christ the 
greatest specialist in character. The logic of this 
fact. Realities in the religious life. Not simply 
light, but life. Christ's claims have been verified. 
Spiritual discernment scientific. Christ's attitude 
strictly scientific. The only worthy leaders in re- 
ligion. Many unwilling to face the truth. Lack of 
true proportion in much college teaching. An honest 
Christian the most scientific of men. The aim of this 
book. The right attitude of the true seeker after 
truth. The final resort to Christ 19 

II. 

SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

A scientific definition of faith. Faith a working 
hypothesis. The faith of science in the atomic theory. 
Explanation means superiority. Therefore man must 
have a revelation of the truth which transcends 
human knowledge. Faith in a casual reality. All 
facts necessary to the clearest faith. Strong faith 
must be broad-minded. The reality of the unseen. 
The unreasonable objection to anthropomorphic con- 
ceptions of God. The organs of evidence. The faith 
9 



10 CONTENTS. 

Page, 
which scientists have in their teachings. Lord Salis- 
bury on the failures of science. Faith in the testi- 
mony of the Christian. The testimony of experience 
the basis of scientific faith. Faith an essential in 
every sphere of achievement. The distinctive phase 
of the Christian's faith 39 



III. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 

Lord Kelvin on the teaching of science concerning 
creative power. Kelvin's quotation from Liebig. 
Salisbury's statement on the same subject. The 
teaching of science concerning God. An illustra- 
tion of the evidence of design. The Science of Prob- 
abilities demands design in creation. Immanuel 
Kant on the evidence of God in the universe. Alfred 
Russell Wallace on the evidence of will-power in 
creation. Romanes on the moral nature of God. 
Mozoomdar on man's religious nature. James Russell 
Lowell on the conscious presence of God. Nature 
teaches the love of God. The self-revelation of 
spirit necessary. The self-revelation of God. The 
Fatherhood of God revealed in nature. Christ's 
teaching concerning the Fatherhood of God scientific. 
The spiritual vision of God. How can a God of love 
allow human suffering? Those who see God's love 
in a world of suffering. Christ brings the love of 
God to suffering men. This scientific belief in God 
the only reasonable hope for mankind 55 

IV. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 

Man's distinctive realm of character. Man's spiritual 
superiority. The measure of manhood. Perfection 
of character in Christ. Man's sin a violation of law. 



CONTENTS. 11 

Page 
The fatality of lawlessness. Therefore the fatality 
of sin. The problem of evil. The element of variety 
in nature which involves resistant forces. The prin- 
ciple of evil necessary to character. Yet sin clearly 
displeasing to God. God's will in law. Sin the 
violation of law. God's purpose vindicated. The dis- 
obedient must be disciplined. Restoration only 
through discipline. The wreck sin has wrought. The 
folly of ignoring the deadliness of sin. Man's de- 
spair in sin. Christ's character the one perfect life. 
Character building a process of spiritual photography. 
Every man's character a reflection of his thought. 
The scientific demand for the revelation of a holy 
life to men, Man's capacity an earnest of the reve- 
lation of God. The revelation of redeeming love to 
men. Man's responsibility considered. Duty deter- 
mined by the valid claims made upon us. Courts 
of law prove man's recognition of moral respon- 
sibility. Man's responsibility not that of the agent, 
but that of the recipient. Your destiny is in your 
own hands 75 



V. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 

How to test the claims of the writings sacred to 
various religions. The test applied in the life of 
the nations of the world. The supreme purpose of 
the Bible. The tributes of leading statesmen. The 
testimony of eminent scientists. The teaching of 
great philosophers. The witness of men of literary 
genius. No difficulties in the Bible which have not 
been met by intelligent students. The Bible not the 
revelation of God; but the record of the same. The 
plan of the Bible to give the story of redemption. 
The true perspective of the Bible centers in Christ. 
This perspective throws light upon many difficulties. 
The historic reliability of the Bible record. Inspira- 



12 CONTENTS. 

Page, 
tion not involved in historic reliability. The his- 
toric reliability of the Old Testament. The historic 
reliability of the New Testament. The explanation 
of discrepancies. The individual character of the 
four Gospels. The Bible in harmony with modern 
science. Figurative forms of teaching emphasize the 
reality of the truth. The lower moral standards of 
the Old Testament explained. Men have learned 
slowly to know and to obey God. The spiritual at- 
mosphere of the Old Testament. The New Testament 
records contain the fulness of the truth. The facts 
which prove the sufficiency of the Bible as the book 
of life. The Bible inspired by the Spirit of the liv- 
ing God L01 

VI. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 

The Scriptures teach that miracles occurred. Hume's 
argument against the credibility of miracles. Life 
and personality were supernatural. Man's free will 
active in departing from nature. God's freedom of 
intervention greater than that of man. The science 
of Pedagogy demands object lessons. The main pur- 
pose of the miracle: illustrated in Egypt. The cases 
of Elijah and Jonah. Christ Himself the supreme 
miracle. Christ is the personal object-lesson reveal- 
ing God to men. Christ's teaching concerning 
miracles. The only scientific attitude toward mir- 
acles. The continuing miracles of grace 135 

VII. 
THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 

Four divisions in this chapter. The necessity for the 
incarnation. Every word must be made flesh. 
Every other word was partial and inadequate. The 



CON TENT 8. 13 

Page. 
fulness of the truth is in Christ. Every incarna- 
tion has power for good or ill 151 

The Deity of Christ. The reason why revelation must 
come from one superior to man. Christ's character 
could not be conceived as more perfect. About the 
self-limitation of the spirit. About the limitation of 
the Spirit of Christ. Napoleon's conviction concern- 
ing Christ. The surroundings of the early life of 
Christ. His three years of public ministry without 
a human teacher. Christ's claim to be the Messiah 
of Israel. The growth of the conviction that His 
claim was true. The matchless character of the 
teaching of Christ. Sonship with God shone out in 
all He said and did. Nothing explains Christ except 
His Sonship with God. The teaching concerning the 
virgin-birth of Jesus. The union of the human and 
divine in Christ. The mystery of the Trinity. An 
illustration from the world of being. The world 
of being involves a Trinity. Lower conceptions of 
Christ have never satisfied the Christian world 156 

The Atonement by Christ. The love of God revealed 
in His gift of Christ. The necessity for the Atone 
ment. The problem of the atonement one of govern- 
ment. The historic illustration of Zaleucus and his 
son. Something more than repentance necessary to 
justify pardon. The vicarious suffering of the king 
honored the law. God could not offer pardon to men 
without an atonement. Intelligent faith sees Christ 
as the atoning Saviour. The vision of the atonement 
essential to a genuine repentance. The adoption into 
sonship and into citizenship. The inheritance, and 
the witness of the Spirit to the child of God in adop- 
tion 177 

The Redemption Through Christ. Adoption must be 
followed by growth into sonship. No man attains 
without meeting the conditions of success. Knowl- 
edge essential to the realization of sonship. We are 
responsible in view of the offer of grace by Christ. 
The high sense of honor which a trustee of the 



14 CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Gospel should have. The Christian must gladly 
endure hardness as a good soldier. Constant abiding 
in Christ the reasonable necessity. Time must be 
devoted to the" faithful cultivation of the Christian 
life. This life is most joyous in its precious bless- 
ings ... 190 



VIII. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 

The purpose of the three remaining chapters. The 
prayer-life the key to the realization of sonship. 
Science teaches that God provides for all our needs. 
The tendency to develop individuality in nature. 
God has given to man a margin of liberty. This 
margin of liberty is alike in the physical and spirit- 
ual realms. Men must hold to the facts about prayer, 
as they hold to the facts about ploughing. Facts 
about the prayer-life of men whom we have known. 
Prayer brings, not simply reflex, but direct blessings. 
God's answer to Elijah's prayer for rain. Condi- 
tions of blessing in the different spheres of activity. 
All of God's blessings are intended to result in 
spiritual growth. A brief analysis of the Lord's 
Prayer. God the great Giver, the great Forgiver, 
the great Leader, and the great Deliverer. Abiding 
in Christ the primary condition of power in prayer. 
The Christian always a recipient more than an agent. 
The supreme place of the Holy Spirit in the prayer- 
life. Our faith is always necessary before God's 
gift can be bestowed. The place of faith in the 
prayer for the sick. God gives the true blessing, 
though not always granting the particular request. 
Special blessings promised to united prayer. God 
waiting to reveal His power to a praying people... 203 



CONTENTS. 15 



IX. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 

Page. 
Questions which Christianity must answer. The prog- 
ress of Christianity has been very slow. Yet Christ 
and His religion the only hope of the race. It takes 
time to make anything that will abide. Christianity 
a growth into the knowledge of Christ. Christianity 
is not asceticism. Christianity is not a conquest by 
the sword. A new day dawned with the Reforma- 
tion. A new appreciation of the value of man as 
man. The distinctive emphasis of Protestantism 
about sin. Direct access to God secured to us through 
Christ. The new appreciation of the brotherhood 
of men. Conditions in non-Christian lands. Chris- 
tianity must seek to redeem every part of human 
life. America not more than one-fourth Christian. 
Christ first, to be followed by everything Christian. 
Some proofs of the uplifting power of Christianity. 
Christianity vitalizes peoples of dying nations. The 
claim of Christianity made good by its fruits. The 
claim of Christianity upon the Christian. The claim 
of Christianity upon secret believers. Each one 
counts one to retard or hasten the redemption 231 

X. 

THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 

Christ hath brought life and immortality to light. 
Christ's first purpose to show the value of this life. 
Our faith in immortality rests upon the present 
power of the living Christ. Faith does not claim 
final proof, but is confident because of facts. Inti- 
mations of immortality in nature. Man's capacity 
for fellowship with God. Still the only reasonable 
faith is in Christ. Living power still manifest in 
the living Christ. Christ tested and proved as the 



16 CONTENTS. 

Page, 
trustworthy Master for this life. How to test 
Christ's teaching concerning the future life. No 
escape from the Christian's hope as scientific. Query- 
about the immortal spirit's mode of subsistence. 
Science gives no hope to one who rejects Christ. We 
must make the most of our opportunities to realize 
a Christ-like character. We must be more earnest 
about our stewardship for souls. Our loved ones 
will be recognized among the redeemed. Eternity 
to be marked by an ever richer growth into the son- 
ship of God. The vision of the glory of Christ our 
Saviour 259 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 



17 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 

The mistaken impression is abroad that this is 
an age of unusual intellectual unrest. A recent book 
begins with the words "we are living in an age of 
mental confusion." Another book has in its title 
"an age of doubt." A third book heralds ours as "an 
age of faith." Of course both faith and doubt are 
here, but above either of these designations we must 
write, "an age of facts." By which we 
mean that facts have a place dominating An ago of 
both inquiry and belief as never before. 
Doubt is not dominant, but hesitant. Faith is buoy- 
ant, and because of the facts. The attitude of the 
thinking world is settled regarding its method. It 
shall be inductive, seeking facts, and rejoicing that 
splendid progress is being made in the search for 
facts. 

There never was so much stability in the thinking 
world as now. Notwithstanding the successive revo- 
lutionary movements of the nineteenth century in the 
realm of research, nay, just because of these, a grow- 
ing sense of certainty has become established. A 
century ago scarcely a town of importance was with- 
out its infidel club. A narrow point of view obtained 

19 



20 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

in regard to very many vital themes, and no man 

dreamed of the flood of light which was about to be 

poured on all our thinking and activity. But light 

is not a disturber of realities. It is a 

Increasing revealer of them. Therefore no age in 
stability . & 

in the human history has had so much of cer- 

worid!* 5 tainty in it as our own, so much of 

unanimity among the largest number of 
men regarding the great themes which the leaders 
of the world's thought and life count fundamental. 
At the beginning of the 19th century the Christians 
in the colleges of America numbered one in ten. To- 
day they number more than one in two, or fifty-three 
per cent. This is not an empty profession of con- 
viction and allegiance, but a vigorous, active and in- 
creasing devotion of true and strong young Chris- 
tians. We are too liable to forget the actual condi- 
tions of the past. Let us steady our too easily dis- 
concerted nerves, and breathe quietly as we take a 
confident survey of the field. 

Every fact in the realm of our knowledge is 
touched by a mystery. However simple and familiar 
the fact, the growth of a blade of grass, the circula- 
tion of the blood, it is touched by a mystery inscru- 
table to the human mind. But on the other hand every 
mystery which baffles the human understanding is 
touched by a plain, simple fact. Science is the 
knowledge of facts. So long as the fact is not clear, 
investigation is simply inquiry along the line of what 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 21 



Fact and 
mystery. 



is probable in view of the facts already 
known. Certainty only comes after the 
fact is established and accepted. In the 
scientific world men are busy with theories, guesses, 
hypotheses regarding the unknown. They are search- 
ing for facts in the realm of mystery. It is of vital 
importance in this search that theories be not con- 
fused with facts. This is equally important whether 
the inquiry be in the scientific or religious realm. 
Opinions in both realms have too often been asserted 
as if guaranteed by facts, when the assumption was 
unwarranted. 

There are two ways of approaching the study of 
anything. One is to begin with its fact, to make the 
most of the fact, to push along the line of fact, until 
the mystery is reached, as it always will be ; then to 
wait for more light, without discounting the fact one 
jot because it has a mystery touching it, but in the 
conviction that the development of the fact for all 
it is worth will tend toward further light. This is 
the scientific method. All the progress in the search 
for knowledge has been made by the adoption of this 

method. Let it be noted well. For M 

The 
there is a second method which is scientific 

adopted by many in connection with met ° ' 

certain facts. This second method approaches on the 

side of the mystery, and refuses to admit the fact 

until its mystery is solved. Of course this is not only 

unscientific but hopeless. Science repudiates the 



22 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

man who would adopt such a method. Yet many are 
thus unscientific. They accept certain facts and pay 
no heed to the mysteries connected with them. But 
certain other facts, as undeniable, they refuse to ac- 
cept until they comprehend the mysteries which touch 
them. 

It is very suggestive that these facts which many 
refuse to accept are in the realm of the moral con- 
sciousness. Yet it is the moral consciousness which 
involves that appreciation of fair and honest dealing 
with all the facts, in every realm of inquiry and ex- 
perience, which is so often emphasized as essential 
to truly scientific research. There are men who use 
strong words about having the courage of conviction 
in the allegiance which we must ever give to the 
facts, however much they upset our 
Pacts in previous opinions. The importance of 

realm. " such a spirit cannot be overstated. But 

let us remember that this attitude must 
obtain toward the facts in the moral realm as faith- 
fully as toward the facts in the realms of mental and 
physical phenomena. Nay, the spiritual realm is 
marked by facts which involve the deepest realities 
in human experience, and if the student be truly 
scientific, he will be true to the spirit of loyalty to 
the facts here with even greater earnestness than 
needs to be displayed in the study of the external 
world. 

We have a striking case in point in the remarkable 
experience of Prof. George J. Eomanes, of the Uni- 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 23 

versity of Cambridge. For years he held to the posi- 
tion of the agnostic materialist, declaring he saw no 
reason for believing in the existence of God or the 
immortality of the soul. He claimed to be a student 
of nature, but one day he was surprised to realize 
that human nature is the most important part of 
nature. Yet he had ignored the higher facts in 
human life and experience, while dil- 
igently studying the physical world be- Tne cas e 
low man, as if spiritual realities had no Romanes. 
existence. Later he frankly confessed 
that he had not been truly scientific during those 
years in which he had ignored the spiritual facts and 
forces in human experience. There are other men, 
great scholars, who have done the same thing. So 
long as they thus ignore some of the facts, they are 
manifestly not capable of having an intelligent opin- 
ion regarding the neglected subjects. 

There are some people who are anxious to be con- 
sidered broad-minded. Sometimes these people will 
declare they cannot believe that which some one else 
believes. For example, they will say they cannot 
believe the teaching that God is love, because of the 
facts of sin and suffering in the world. Now when 
some men accept this teaching, and have a philosophy 
of life which includes all these various elements in 
the problem, and declare that they can see light shin- 
ing where it is dark to others, manifestly the only 
thing to say is that these men have a 
larger, broader view than those who say t h e broad 



24 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

minded they cannot accept the same. He whose 

view takes in all the facts, without 
evading anything whatever, and sees a rock on which 
to stand, with a clear, strong hope for men, is the 
broadest-minded man possible. But they who ignore 
the whole range of spiritual facts, or any part 
thereof, are of necessity driven to so narrow a view 
of the problem of human life as to make its solution 
hopeless. They have no light for the pathway of 
progress. They may tell us about the things which 
they have studied, but not about the things which 
they have neglected. 

There is a set of facts, tremendous and portentous 
facts, which rise to the point of highest importance 
in all human life. They are the facts which have 
to do with the making of character. If there be any 
hope for men, if there be any reality anywhere, then 
the most important facts in the world are those which 
relate to character. Every other set of facts takes on 
relative importance in view of its relation to the 
forces which are revealed in the building of char- 
acter. Therefore it is beyond all con- 
which troversy that men should study these 

relate to facts with most earnest spirit, with 

truest fidelity to the scientific method, 
making the most of every appreciable fact, in spite 
of its difficulties and mysteries. Every lover of truth 
desires the light upon every subject. Every fact 
which gives us more light has penetrated the un- 
known and pushed back the mystery. 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 25 

The scientific method makes a specific demand 
upon the student who hopes to be masterful in any 
department of life. It demands that he shall go to the 
greatest specialist in that department in which he is 
a student. He must study the facts to be found in 
that department under the guidance of this specialist, 
as the highest authority on the subject, and the 
teacher whose instructions must be fol- 
lowed faithfully in research and experi- Christ the 
ment. The reasonableness of this de- fpeciSst 

mand every one accepts. Let us apply in char- 

cicter 
it to the man who professes to be seek- 
ing mastery in the realm of character. For it is a 
fact of supreme importance that people of every 
faith, in every land, agree that Jesus Christ is the 
greatest specialist in character the world has ever 
known. By universal consent His character is the 
world's ideal, matchless and shining with a glory un- 
dimmed through the years. 

Let us face fairly the full force of this fact. Let 
us be truly scientific in view of this demand which 
science makes upon every individual who professes 
to desire a character like that of Christ. There is 
no possible evasion of the logic in our thought. Every 
such individual must go to Jesus Christ as the high- 
est authority on the subject for light and leading. 
The moment he refuses to go to Christ, he betrays 
his lack of sincerity regarding the real desire of his 
heart concerning character. If ever men should be 
urged to realize the necessity of being truly scientific 



26 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

in seeking honestly for light on the pathway of prog- 
ress, they mast be urged to do so in this matter. To 
Christ they must go in order to possess a char- 
acter like His, which all the world as- 
The logic serts is the finest ever known. It is not 

fact. competent for men to say what they can 

or cannot believe about Christ before 
they go to Him as their teacher. They must be 
ready to begin the study of character in the school 
of Christ. What they may be able to believe will 
appear later. 

Anchored in the facts related to the making of 
character is the whole range of experiences con- 
nected with the realm of religion. Science rightly 
demands a special emphasis upon experience, and 
nowhere is experience more real and 
Reality in vital than in the sphere of the relig- 
ious life. ious life. Never before were there so 
many facts to compel the honest con- 
sideration of earnest men as now. These are the 
facts which justify the opening statements in this 
chapter. The world never saw such activity in the 
name of religion as today. And it is to be noted 
that the vast majority of the leaders in the world's 
life, in the colleges of the leading nations, in the 
ranks of statesmen, in the number of those who 
devote time and money to the elevation of man- 
kind, are the open followers of Jesus Christ. There- 
fore to ignore the life and teachings of Christ is to 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 27 

be -unscientific beyond any possibility of justifica- 
tion. 

But the scientific method cuts deeper. The hon- 
est student of character cannot be true to his best 
manhood unless his purpose be clear to possess the 
character which Christ has revealed to men. There- 
fore in the nature of things the subject cannot be 
studied theoretically. Just as it would be impossi- 
ble for the student of music to know the realities of 
music unless he studied to the end that he might 
reproduce the very product of the Master's life, so 
it is manifestly impossible to know the realities in 
religion, which crystallize in character, except as 
the student shall purpose, with all possible energy 
and concentration, to know the very character of 
Christ as the result of his effort. For manifestly 
the only final demonstration of the 
truth in this realm is in the actual Not sim- 
lif e itself. Hence we have that illumi- but life. ' 
nating statement concerning Christ, 
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of 
men." (John 1:4.) He who imagines that one 
could come to Christ to satisfy mere intellectual 
curiosity about mysteries, must see at once the fu- 
tility of his efforts. All the moral obligation which 
inspires the truly scientific spirit in any realm of 
research becomes doubly intensified in its constraint 
upon the man who would be true in the realm of 
the moral life itself. 

Since experience is the scientific basis of intellp 



28 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

gent conviction, men must enter the laboratory of 
character and put the claims and promises of Christ 
to the test. Let it be noted well that these claims 
of Christ can be verified, and that thousands who 
have verified them unanimously report them to be 
true, and that therefore Christ is proved to be trust- 
worthy. When Prof. Roentgen announced his dis- 
covery of the X Ray to the world, many men, who 
were really anxious to possess the power claimed for 
it by its discoverer, determined to know the truth 
about it. They carefully obeyed every 
claims detail of instruction which Prof. 

have been Roentgen gave, went into the labor a- 
venfied. ° ° 7 

tory and produced the very thing it- 
self. Thousands have never attempted this; but in 
the face of the testimony of every man who has 
actually tested the claim, the world would smile at 
one who announced his doubt as to the fact. Men 
would say to him: "Go into the laboratory, do ex- 
actly as the Master has taught, and you will find it." 
This is exactly the scientific answer to the man who 
expresses doubt about the claims of Jesus Christ. 
The honest man cannot escape its validity and its 
compelling constraint. 

Deeper still the truth leads us along the line of 
the scientific method. Some men have hastily re- 
sented the statement that the deep realities in spir- 
itual experience are only spiritually discerned. 
They repudiate the assertion of the apostle Paul 
that "the natural man receiveth not the things of 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 29 

the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto 
him; and he cannot know them, because they 
are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:14.) But 
Paul's statement is strictly scientific, and finds cor- 
roboration in every realm of experience. How 
familiar is the expression descriptive of a great 
lawyer that he has a fine legal mind. He can dis- 
cern the law in difficult legal problems where others 
can never see it. Or how natural is 
the statement concerning a master in d£cern- 

music that he has marvelous insight mei }}. sci " 

, . .mi entific. 

and interpretation. To such an one 

close harmonies touch the very depths of his respon- 
sive soul, which one having no musical discernment 
would consider only discords. It would all be fool- 
ishness to him. One great financier can see the 
solution of a gigantic problem, and finance success- 
fully a great enterprise, where another, without 
financial discernment, would consider the thing 
utterly impossible. That is to say, Paul was simply 
applying a universal principle to a sphere of life 
where most men have not been such specialists as 
Paul was. The logic of the proposition is simply 
inevitable. The only way for the incapable and in- 
experienced student in law, or music, or finance to 
know what now he does not know, and cannot now 
appreciate, is to begin to learn at the feet of the 
masters in these spheres of knowledge and life. 

It is therefore a strictly scientific attitude which 
Jesus Christ maintains before men, as He gives 



30 8GIENTIFIC FAITH. 

His invitation in the words, "Come unto me and 
learn of me." (Matt. 11:28-29.) He presumes 
no whit upon any man's credulity, but challenges 
men to put Him to the test, saying "by their fruits 
ye shall know them." (Matt. 7:16.) The man 
who has never come to Jesus Christ, 

Christ's 

attitude ^o P 11 ^ Him fully to the test, is as in- 

strictiy competent to have an intelligent judg- 

scientific. % -I-T. i • 

ment concerning Him as the ignorant 

incapable in the sphere of law or music or finance 
would be to have an opinion regarding the masters 
in those spheres. Yet many are just thus unscien- 
tific and unfair in assuming to be capable of an 
intelligent judgment regarding spiritual realities, 
though they confess that they never honestly at- 
tempted to learn of Christ concerning His acknowl- 
edged specialty. Let science be fair enough to con- 
demn all such as manifestly unscientific and there- 
fore unworthy of confidence or endorsement in this 
matter. 

It necessarily follows that the only leaders of the 
religious life who are worthy of the following of in- 
telligent men are those who have earnestly striven 
to their utmost to know the truth as it is in Jesus 
Christ. In so far as this truth is found elsewhere 
in the world, its place is secure, but no time need 
be consumed in seeking light from others except as 
they point to Him, for His place is conceded to be 
the highest of all the specialists in character. There- 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 31 

fore when Prof. Tyndall, a student in physical 

science, and confessing himself to have neglected the 

spiritual realities, assumes to put forth an essay on 

Prayer,, he does the most unscientific 

thing he could do, and the thinking worthy 

world must recognize his utter incom- leaders in 

it -i i i • religion. 

petency to deal with the subject. 

When, however, a contemporary of Prof. Tyndall, 
Mr. D. L. Moody, publishes an essay on Prevailing 
Prayer, the thinking world, knowing his long expe- 
rience in the prayer-life, must accord to the author 
the right to a respectful hearing, for, if it be scien- 
tific, it will say he has a right to be heard. Prof. 
Tyndall could tell Mr. Moody some wonderful facts 
about Biology; but no less surely could Mr. Moody 
tell Prof. Tyndall some facts just as remarkable 
about prayer. There are college professors who can 
teach their students about some specialty in which 
they have real experience, who are not competent to 
discuss the realities of the Christian life. 

The fact remains that many men are not willing 
to face the truth which bears upon life and charac- 
ter. They have not the courage of their conviction 
in the matter of following Jesus Christ. It is time 
to make it plain that all such are not scientific, are 
not honest, are not deserving of self-respect. Does 
this statement seem severe ? It is not unjustly se- 
vere, for it is true. If their course be intentionally 
unscientific, it is not honest, and therefore cannot 



32 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

be worthy of respect. Let us encourage every man 
who urges honest investigation without 
willing 1 ?© reserve. But let this investigation seek 
face the that en( j which alone justifies it, name- 

ly truth that will make for character. 
When men stop short of this ultimate, they betray 
actual insincerity in their aim. Truth realizes its 
end only when it obtains in real life. 

Any one who has much to do with the students 
in the colleges in America and other countries knows 
that many of them are unsettled in their attitude 
toward truth because of the methods of instruction 
pursued by their professors. These men claim to be 
scientific, and yet often put forth assumptions as if 
they were facts, ignoring related considerations 
which tend to balance and steady the susceptible 
minds of the students. The result is that some in- 
stitutions are destructive in the total effect of their 
teaching because they give points of view in the 
narrow lines of different specialties, without giving 
the right proportion of truth, or taking care to 
buttress the inquirer against unbalanced and per- 
verting instruction. Men will say 
true pro- they are set to teach their specialty, 

portion but the total effect of the system is 

in much t . . 

college unworthy of great institutions whose 

first claim is that they aim to build 

true manhood in rounded character. In order to 

safeguard the students against this hurtful method 

it is necessary to warn them not to forget that 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD., 33 

there is a proper balance of the truth, and if 
their teachers do not give it to them, there is a place 
to find it. Knowing as they do the supreme import- 
ance of character, let them find in Christ, that great- 
est of all specialists in the realm of truest realities, 
the truth which will steady the whole life, the truth 
that makes men free. 

Out of all the foregoing considerations we must 
draw the conclusion that the man who is an honest 
follower of Jesus Christ, with the supreme desire to 
possess a character like Christ's, is the most scien- 
tific of men. For he is striving to learn both truth 
and life from the greatest of all teachers, by which 
he shall grow into that spiritual discernment of the 
deep realities of the spiritual life which will enable 
him to know Christ, even as Aristotle knew Plato, 
even as Kepler knew Copernicus, even as Gray knew 
Linnaeus, even as Raphael knew Michelangelo, 
even as Beethoven knew Bach, even as Paul and 
Luther and Livingstone knew Christ. This is to 
carry research into the deepest capac- 
ities of the human soul, along the line An honest 

' & Christian 

of the loftiest aspirations of the im- the most 

mortal spirit, out into the life where o?men? C 
the relations with men summon to 
effort and growth. This is the most real and the 
most valuable experience a man can know. It is 
worthy of his truest endeavor, of his unflinching 
fidelity to the truth, of the fullest consecration of 
his best life. 



34 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

The aim of this book is to point the way to a 
clear faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men. 
Every part of the discussion is intended to contrib- 
ute to that end. It is a whole salvation which is 
considered not merely the escape from sin; but also 
the service of a loving allegiance which seeks to live 
Christ and give Christ to every man in the earth. 
Therefore it is not intended to try to 
^ e ^ im ° f satisfy mere curiosity about myster- 
ies; but to show the way to secure a 
character which reveals the deep realities of a gen- 
uine spiritual life at its best. Let this aim be kept 
in mind. We shall ever seek to show the reasona- 
bleness of the faith which is worthy of a Christian, 
but back of the response of the reason to these con- 
siderations let there be the real purpose to know 
Christ in order to possess a character like His. 

The seeker after truth must ask himself as to 
his real purpose in life. His right attitude is vital, 
for he cannot be true without it. Unless a man 
desires character with increasing intensity, he can- 
not shake off prejudices, even in the 

The right f ace f manifest truth. Unless a man 

attitude 

of the true is ready to follow the light with the 

aftertruth quick courage of conviction, he is a 
slave to some sort of selfish fear, be- 
cause the straightforward assertion of his new con- 
viction will cost something which he is not willing 
to pay. For such there can be no real progress in 
the truth, and therefore no true growth in character. 



THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 35 

Consistent with what has been said, all our study 
of the subjects which follow will be with the aim 
ever before us to realize how the truth counts in its 
effect upon character. By that test its value ap- 
pears. Accordingly whatever other source of in- 
formation we may seek, we shall always turn for 
our final authority to Christ, our greatest specialist, 
in order to learn His estimate of the teaching. He 
always reveals its relation to character, 

and therefore in Him we learn its final The tinal 
i m i • in • i resort to 

value. lo this study let us go with Christ. 

open minds and honest hearts, seeking 

the truth not simply for its own sake, but that we 

may know its power in that character which is 

everywhere proving the salvation of the individual 

who possesses it, and which is therefore the hope of 

the race. 






SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 



37 



II. 

SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

A scientific definition of faith will make it clear 
that it is not something restricted to the religious 
realm, but is found in every department of human 
knowledge. Faith is a reasonable inference from 
accepted facts. Faith is not credulity. A strange 
misconception has sometimes obtained to the effect 
that reason and faith are antagonistic, and when 
reason enters faith departs. Nothing is further 
from the truth. Faith is the result of reasoning 
from accepted facts concerning that which is not 
yet known. In view of this process 
it is counted reasonable to believe cer- tific def j. 

tain things consistent with the facts, nition of 
. t . mi faith, 

but transcending experience. There- 
fore we have essentially the same definition which 
is given us in Hebrews 11 :1, which may be trans- 
lated from the Greek thus: "Faith is the assur- 
ance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not 
seen. 7 ' This definition puts the element of confi- 
dence into the inference, and colors it with that 
same hope which every seeker after knowledge and 
certainty entertains in all his efforts to push a lit- 
tle further into the unknown. In the realm of per- 

39 



40 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

sonal relations faith takes on the form of trust. The 
principle is the same. It is believing in a man be- 
cause of the facts which one knows about him and 
which justify the confidence. When a man says he 
believes in Jesus Christ, and trusts Him, the prin- 
ciple is identical. If facts justify the confidence it 
is a reasonable faith. 

It is the scientific method which thus proceeds 
from certain accepted facts to set up an hypothesis, 
an inference, a belief concerning the probabilities 
about something not yet known. Faith is simply 
the working hypothesis upon which the student pro- 
ceeds in his investigations. All progress is being 
made by thus advancing a hypothesis and testing it. 

When the effort to make progress 
working ceases, it is because faith is dead, and 

hypothe- no working hypothesis is being any 

longer utilized. This method of re- 
search is in use in every department of knowledge 
in the effort to know more. All the physical sciences 
are full of a gigantic faith which is being exercised 
in accepting various hypotheses, inferences, believ- 
ing them to be most probable, for they are the best 
inferences which reason suggests in view of accepted 
facts. And this is exactly the character of the 
Christian's faith. It is because of certain facts that 
the Christian believes; and reason justifies the faith 
as the most reasonable in view of the character of 
the facts. 

The physical sciences are developed on the basis 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 41 

of the atomic theory. Now the definition of an atom 
tells us it is "an invisible, indivisible particle of 
matter. " That is to say, it is a particle of matter 
so small that we cannot see it and cannot cut it in 
two. But the human mind cannot conceive of any- 
thing so small but what we could cut it in two, and 
it would be just half as large. This means that the 
human mind is finite and must rest this side of the 
infinitesimal, as well as this side of the infinite. We 
cannot imagine the end of space. But science must 
begin with some sort of hypothesis, and therefore 
begins with the atom. True, leading 

scientists differ in their idea about the The * aith 

of science 
atom, but they realize the necessity of in the 

believing something in order to pro- theory 
ceed in their investigations. The very 
important fact connected with this faith in the 
atom is that man, as at present constituted, can only 
know in part. Therefore the assumption of intel- 
lectual sufficiency is unbecoming. The truly great 
men among our leading scientists speak with hesi- 
tation about certainty of knowledge. It is the 
superficial student who boasts without hesitation. 
In view of the facts thus recognized, the place of 
faith becomes apparent. 

Conviction concerning this necessity of faith is 
strengthened by some further important considera- 
tions. Explanation involves superiority to the 
thing explained. The fact needs only to be stated 
in order to be recognized as true. But there is much 



42 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

on every side which transcends human knowledge. 
The thoughtful student will ever recognize his limi- 
tations. Man's attempt to explain 
tion means that which transcends is simply the 
superior- expression of his aspiration. More- 

over we have come to realize that when 
we study the progress of created things, we must 
interpret the lower in terms of the higher. That 
which is below finds its true meaning in view of its 
relation to that which is above. For man there- 
fore to assume to interpret fully that which tran- 
scends the human is contrary to the recognized pro- 
cedure and unscientific. He may believe about it 
reasonably, in view of what he does know; but he 
cannot know it fully. 

It follows inevitably that if man is ever to have 
an intelligent and adequate appreciation of the 
meaning of human life itself, to say nothing of the 
life which transcends the human as now restricted, 
he must be given a revelation from above. He must 
be taught the truth from a point of view which 
transcends his own. Since the uniformity of law is 
everywhere maintained, man must be interpreted in 
view of his relation to that which is above man. 
In order to realize this relation sufficiently to grow 
toward his natural destiny, he must be enabled to 
see how the things which baffle his understanding 
now have a relation to a process which 

There- becomes clear from that superior level 

fore man . . T .. - 

must have of vision. It would be exactly in 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 43 

accord with our scientific procedure if a r ® v el a - 

it i tion of 

one superior to man should come and the truth 

teach us concerning that which is be- JJ^; 

yond our knowledge, and reveal to us scends 

„ , 1 , . human 

enough oi truth to enable us to inter- knowl- 

pret life on the human level in terms edge, 
of a higher life. In the succeeding chapters we 
shall note the reasons for believing that such a reve- 
lation has been given to men. At this point we must 
see, not only how it is made necessary by man's limi- 
tations, but also how it is thoroughly scientific to 
believe in such a revelation, if man shall develop 
intelligently toward a higher life, in harmony with 
all development everywhere. 

Another important consideration in this connec- 
tion is that we may be certain of some things though 
we cannot fully comprehend them. For instance, 
our reason will not allow us to doubt the evidence 
of cause and effect. Now human consciousness is 
an effect, but that necessarily means that the cause 
of the human personality is of the nature of con- 
scious personality. The stream does not rise higher 
than its source. Moreover the continued existence 
of the world is the basis for the con- 
viction that it has a sufficient reason Faith in 

a causal 
for existence. Other things come and reality. 

go, but the world remains. An equilib- 
rium is maintained. Things are not unbalanced. 
There is manifest a deeper harmony sustained be- 
neath the surface of discords. This points to a 



44 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ruler of the world who has not lost His power. This 
is a fact of importance for the preliminary prepara- 
tion of the attitude of faith in the general condition 
of things, though many mysteries touch them. 

It has been noted in the previous chapter that 
some men who claim to be scientific are not because 
they ignore some of the facts. The case of Prof. 
Romanes was cited. So long as he ignored the facts 
and forces in the spiritual realm, it was impossible 
for him to have a scientific faith about them. He 
could not use a working hypothesis concerning 
them. But when he began to study them fully, 
earnestly, he came to a strong scientific faith in 
Jesus Christ. Christ has given us light upon most 
important facts, which we cannot understand apart 
from His teachings. Christ brings all those facts 
into the range of a reasonable faith which are so 
impossible for mere human wisdom to 

Ail facts comprehend. It is this very contribu- 

necessary . . , 

to the tion which He gives to the solution of 

fafth 168 * human problems that explains the 

great satisfaction which accompanies 
intelligent faith in Him. It cannot be denied that 
the men of little faith and of no faith are those who 
have not taken all the facts into the account in the 
light of the teachings of Christ. His character is 
back of His teachings, as the mightiest fact in hu- 
man history. Men who ignore Him have not been 
true to the full claim of the truth upon them. 

We have also referred to the broad-minded view 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 45 

of any great problem as involving this same study 
of all the facts which we recognize as related to it. 
Such a view is necessary for a victorious faith. If 
any important fact be left out, sooner 
or later, faith will cease to be clear and ta ^ th must 
strong, as questions concerning that be broad- 
neglected fact will arise. But when 
every known fact has been related to all the 
other known facts, faith is based upon the broad- 
est possible foundation. ]STow this is true of the 
Christian's faith. He has taken all the known 
facts into account, and has light upon them from 
the world's greatest Teacher. Nothing is evaded, 
but everything is related to the system of truth, 
with a reasonable explanation sufficient to justify 
the faith. Therefore this faith of the Christian 
shines bright and undimmed through the years. 
Nothing threatens its strength. 

Another fact, sometimes forgotten, the apprecia- 
tion of which is necessary to scientific faith, is the 
reality of the unseen psychical and spiritual world. 
Prof. James reminds us that an object may be pres- 
ent to our thought as really as to our senses. The 
appreciation of the nature and reality 

of justice may be as keen to the moral The real- 
J . A • + - * ityofthe 

consciousness as the appreciation oi unseen. 

hardness in the stone to the sense of 

touch. A spiritual vision of the beauty of holiness 

is as real as a physical vision of the beauty of the 

landscape. Prof. James truly says "these feelings 



46 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

are as convincing to those who have them as direct 
sensible experiences can be; and they are, as a rule, 
much more convincing than results established by 
mere logic ever are." We must keep this truth in 
mind as we discuss realities in the realm of faith 
and the religious life, invisible to the eye of the 
flesh, but clearly realized by the inner conscious- 
ness. 

One of the most important elements in a scien- 
tific faith is the appreciation of the fact that any 
conceptions man may have of God must be an- 
thropomorphic. Some men speak of this fact as if 
it must condemn all such conceptions of God as hope- 
lessly inadequate. We have noted that much in the 
universe transcends human knowledge. But whatever 
man, knows at all he must know as a man, and all his 
conceptions must be marked by human limitations. 
A man must think humanly of a dog, not as the dog 
thinks of itself. Just so he must think humanly of 
God, not as God thinks of Himself. The moment we 
try to get beyond such human concep- 
The un- tions, that moment we have lost the sense 

objection °^ reality in thinking of God, for our 

to anthro- conception has no definite character 

pomorphic f . . 

concep- remaining, and eludes us m a hazy 

God? ° generality. Let us have done with the 

superficial notion that anthropomor- 
phism is to be decried. The more that God's human- 
ity is apparent to us, the more we realize the per- 
fection of His character and the reality of a possi- 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 47 

ble vital fellowship with Him. The necessity for 
such a conception of God is the fundamental ex- 
planation of the fact that the incarnation of Christ 
must be adapted to human limitations. Thus only 
can a revelation of God be made to men. We shall 
refer again to this fact in considering the incarna- 
tion of Christ. At this point let us realize that 
we must not only think of the God-likeness of 
Christ, but also of the Christ-likeness of God. 

A great stumbling block in the way of faith has 
been the mistaken supposition, entertained by many, 
that the intellect is the only organ of evidence to 
the man. This was the mistake made by Romanes 
for years. His intellect was his god. He imagined 
he could not believe any thing which he could not 
demonstrate to be true by an intellectual process. 
But he tells us how great was his as- 
tonishment one day to discover that The 
the affections, the feelings, and the evidence, 
will are also organs of evidence to the 
man. It flashed upon him in this form, "I know 
that my mother loves me, but I cannot prove it by 
logic." We feel some realities, especially in the 
realm of personal relationships. Herbert Spencer 
confessed in his last book that he had paid too little 
heed to the feelings as organs of evidence to men. 
So the will is a factor in this acquisition of knowl- 
edge by experience. If a certain product involves 
the relation of a man's will to that of another, the 
process leading to that product brings the will into 



48 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the conscious experience as a factor. So if my right 
relation to Jesus Christ requires a definite relation 
of my will to His, that will becomes an organ of 
evidence as I experience the result of the fellowship 
which follows. 

We have spoken of a gigantic faith in the realm 
of the physical sciences. It is important to realize 
the relative reliability of the faith of the scientists 
and that of the Christian. The physicist tells us 
how many tons of copper are necessary to condense 
a cubic foot of ether a fraction of an inch. No 
one ever tried it. The scientists are not all agreed 
about the ether. This inference is not a matter of 
experimental knowledge. The astron- 
which sci- omer tells us that light travels at the 

entista rate £ n i ne ty- s ix thousand miles a 

have in J 

their second, and that, at that rate, the light 

ngs. o £ ^ e north star requires thirty-nine 
years to reach our globe. The geologists tell us the 
formation of the earth has required from three 
millions to fifty millions of years. No two of them 
exactly agree. Yet the students of science accept 
these statements, these beliefs, because these teach- 
ers point out certain facts which lead them to be- 
lieve they are making reasonable inferences from 
the same. It is a matter of faith, reasonable more 
or less, scientific in principle, still simple faith. 

Lord Salisbury, as president of the British Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, said in his 
annual address at Oxford in 1894, that instead of re- 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 49 

counting the triumphs of science, he deemed it wise to 
note some of the marks of our ignorance, some of the 
unsolved enigmas which still baffle us. Then this 
great statesman and scientist pointed 

out in scientific detail the great uncer- J , ° rd Sal " 

lsbury on 
tamty attaching to almost every theory the fail- 
thus far advanced by physical science, scTence 
and declared that the theory of evolu- 
tion was being now assumed as a working hypothe- 
sis, not because it was proven by any means, but 
because there were fewer objections and difficulties 
attending it than any other. All of which goes to 
emphasize the large place given to faith in every 
department of physical science. It is necessary 
there, as a working hypothesis, in order to progress, 
just as it is scientific and necessary in every depart- 
ment of knowledge and life. 

Yet when a man rises to testify to the incontro- 
vertible fact that the most real experience in all his 
life is the consciousness of the power of the truth 
as it is in Jesus Christ to transform his character, 
to satisfy his loftiest aspirations, to strengthen, en- 
rich and sweeten his life, many of these same scien- 
tists smile incredulously as if the man were not 
quite responsible. But this man is a leader in his 
community, his word is as good as his bond, his 
judgment in affairs of finance, or the affairs of state, 
is counted profound and of great value. In fact the 
vast majority of the world's greatest scientists give 
this testimony themselves. If there be any con- 



50 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

sistency in the scientific method, it 

Faith in must be frankly conceded that the 

the testi- 
mony of Christian is equally scientific with 

tian other men in his faith. Indeed since 

science demands the reality of expe- 
rience for a basis, then the Christian is the most 
scientific of all, because his experience is the most 
vital in the whole range of the human consciousness. 
Eot only so, but the product of his process of faith 
is worth more to the world than any derived from 
other spheres of activity. 

If therefore the student in the class room believes 
the teacher who declares that he has proved his 
statement by personal experiment in the laboratory, 
though the student himself has had no such experi- 
ence, no man can deny the equally reasonable atti- 
tude of one seeking to know the solution of the 
problem of character, when such an 
mon^o?" inquirer listens with an open mind to 

experi- a witness whose veracity is not to be 

basis of questioned as he declares, just as does 

scientific the professor, that he knows his state- 

ment to be true because he has proved 
it in the laboratory of an honest experience in the 
daily life. In fact it is just because earnest students 
see and feel the reality of this experience in the lives 
of some with whom they come into contact, that they 
cannot doubt the truth of Christian testimony. 
One manifest fact is worth a thousand arguments. 
Furthermore the universal testimony of human 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 51 

experience establishes the fact that faith is the ex- 
planation of all human progress, the vital essential 
to worthy achievement in every sphere of activity. 
Only the man who believes accomplishes. To the 
old adage "seeing is believing" we must put another, 
"believing is seeing." It was the faith of Alexander 
and Csesar and Napoleon which conquered worlds 
and built empires. It was the faith of Columbus 
that discovered a new continent. It was the faith 
of Marconi that gave us wireless telegraphy. Faith 
has been the explanation of the tire- 
less devotion and patient enthusiasm essential 

of all those men who saw from afar in every 

sphere of 
the consummation. Therefore when achieve- 

Jesus Christ emphasizes the necessity 
of faith among those who would follow Him in 
building character and redeeming the race, He only 
stipulates a condition which is everywhere de- 
manded of heroic service. And to say that true 
faith here will involve self-denial and tireless energy 
is only to say what every sphere of life demands of 
the victors therein. "The just shall live by faith" 
not only in the realm of religion, but in every realm. 
The moment faith ceases, the cause begins to die. 

Glance over the marginal notes of this chapter 
again to recall the salient considerations which enter 
into the study of a scientific faith. In addition to 
what has been said, it is necessary to appreciate the 
truth that the faith which involves spiritual realities 
must be distinctive in character, though in accord 



52 



SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 



The dis- 
tinctive 
phase of 
the Chris- 
tian's 
faith. 



with universal principles. The faith 
which Christ asserts it necessary for 
men who are to build Christian char- 
acter to possess must rest upon certain 
facts in the experience of the individ- 
ual in view of his relation to Jesus Christ. These 
facts we are about to consider in the succeeding 
chapters. They are facts which, if fairly faced, 
must compel assent to the reasonableness of the 
faith in God, in the Bible, in Christ Himself as the 
only Saviour of men, and in the inevitable triumph 
of Christianity as the universal religion. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 



53 



III. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 

Eo leader of the world's thought ranks higher in 
the realm of science than Lord Kelvin. And no 
utterance from this man of great authority has been 
counted more significant than that spoken in the 
University College in April, 1903. Lord Kelvin 
said: "Science positively affirms creative power. 
It is not in dead matter that we live and move and 
have our being, but in the creating and directing 
Power which science compels us to accept as an arti- 
cle of belief. We cannot escape from 
that conclusion when we study the Lord Kel- 
physics and dynamics of living and teaching 

dead matter all around. — We only of science 

J concern- 
know God in His works, but we are ing a crea- 

absolutely forced by science to believe power. 
with perfect confidence in a Directive 
Power, in an influence other than physical, or 
dynamical, or electrical forces. — There is nothing 
between absolute scientific belief in a Creative 
Power, and the acceptance of the theory of a for- 
tuitous concourse of atoms. — Modern scientific men 
are in agreement in condemning the latter as utterly 
absurd in respect to the coming into existence, or 

55 



56 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the growth, or the continuation of molecular com- 
binations presented in the bodies of living things. 
Here scientific thought is compelled to accept the 
idea of Creative Power. Forty years ago I asked 
Liebig, walking somewhere in the country, if he 
believed that the grass and flowers 
quotation that we saw around us grew by mere 

J? 01 * 1 , chemical forces. He answered, 'No, 

Liebig. 

no more than I could believe that a 

book of Botany describing them could grow by mere 
chemical forces/ Every action of free will is a 
miracle to physical and chemical and mathematical 
science. — Do not be afraid of being free thinkers. 
If you think strongly enough, you will be forced by 
science to the belief in God, which is the foundation 
of all religion. You will find science not antagon- 
istic but helpful to religion." 

This utterance of one who is probably the great- 
est living scientist of our time should be studied 
with great care, especially by those who have been 
unduly influenced by men of smaller calibre. In 
the address by Lord Salisbury, previously men- 
tioned, that great scientist and statesman puts him- 
self on record, as being in accord with Lord Kelvin, 
in the following words : "I have always felt that the 
hypothesis of natural selection does not contain the 
true theory of evolution, if evolution there has been 
in biology. I feel profoundly convinced that the 
argument from design has been greatly too much 
lost sight of in recent zoological speculations. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 57 

Overwhelmingly strong proofs of intel- 
ligent and benevolent design lie around bury's 
us, and if ever perplexities, whether statement 
metaphysical or scientific, turn us same sub- 
away from them for a time, they come ]e 
back upon us with irresistible force, showing to us 
through nature the influence of a free will, and 
teaching us that all living things depend on an ever 
lasting Creator and Kuler." This statement is the 
more significant now, ten years after its utterance, 
in view of the fact that biologists are agreeing that 
Darwin's particular theory of natural selection is 
destined to be rejected by the scientific world* 

We shall speak of this "everlasting Creator and 
Buler" as God. Science has taught us the solidarity 
of the universe, the uniformity of law, and the 
unity of force as related to the phenomena about us. 
Prof. Romanes pointed to the fact that science has 
made polytheism impossible to educated men. 
There can be but one God according 

to the evidence which science presents. The teach 

. ing of sci- 

Moreover the old idea of deism, which ence con- 
thought of God as starting the worlds cKd" 18 
going and then withdrawing Himself, 
must be abandoned, for science insists upon the 
immanence of God in all nature. And nature, as 
we have noted, includes human nature. Therefore 
we need waste no time in considering various 
theories and superstitions concerning gods many, 
but will confine our thought to the inquiry as to 



58 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the reasonableness of believing in one true God. 
We may follow the argument of Lord Kelvin and 
Lord Salisbury as to the evidence from design a 
little further. Consider an old hall clock yonder in 
the stairway. Its ticking pendulum, its hour and 
minute and second hands all move with perfect 
accuracy in their proper places. Its mimic moon 
shows the exact phase of the moon in the heavens 
at the moment when it is observed. Another indi- 
cator points to the day of the month, following the 
round of the entire year with unvarying precision. 
Now if you were to ask any intelligent man whether 
this clock just made itself, with its delicate adjust- 
ments and skilful arrangements, by a series of 
chance meetings of atoms, he would 
Anillus- quickly repudiate the thought with a 

the evi- suspicion regarding your sanity. But 

design° f as we look at the S reat clocks °^ tne 

ages, moving with marvelous precision 

through the heavens we behold the wonders of a 
geometry before which human clock-makers stand 
amazed, and which they have copied just a little bit. 
The science of Mathematics is the one deemed 
most certain in its conclusions. There is a depart- 
ment of Mathematics known as the Science of Prob- 
abilities. If you consider the various combinations 
and adjustments of the human eye, and calculate 
the probability of such a product being by chance, 
the absurdity of such an idea appears 
ence of" when we determine the probability of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 59 

its ever occurring more than once. Probabili- 

ties de- 
The science of Probabilities proves the mands de- 
chances are a million to one against creation, 
such a repetition. Yet when we con- 
sider the reproduction, not only of the human eye, 
but of the whole mechanism of the human body, 
this science positively compels us to repudiate a 
view of creation which ignores the necessity of an 
intelligent Creator. 

The thinking world recognizes Immanuel Kant as 
one of the most profound minds among the intel- 
lectual giants of the centuries. He says "It is im- 
possible to contemplate the fabric of the world with- 
out recognizing the certain manifestation of the hand 
of God in the perfection of its correlations. Keason, 
when once it has considered and admired so much 
beauty and so much perfection, feels a just indigna- 
tion at the dauntless folly which dares to ascribe all 
this to chance and a happy accident. It 
must be that the highest wisdom con- Kant on 
ceived the plan and infinite power car- , he evi " 
ried it into execution. All things God in the 
which set forth reciprocal harmonies in 
nature must be bound together in a single Existence 
on which they collectively depend. Thus there ex- 
ists a Being of all beings, an infinite Understanding 
and a self-existent Wisdom, from which nature, in 
the whole aggregate of her correlations, derives ex- 
istence. It is not allowable to maintain that the 
activity of nature is prejudicial to the existence of 



60 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

a Highest Being. The perfection of its development 
the order and harmony of its laws give conclusive 
demonstration of the Godhead from whom these re- 
lations are derived." 

Let us next turn to another of our greatest liv- 
ing scientists, as he leads us a step further in our 
inquiry. Mr. Alfred Kussell Wallace divides the 
honors with Mr. Darwin as a student of living spe- 
cies. In one particular he departs from Darwin's 
theory of natural selection, namely in his view of 
the creation of man. He insists that man never 
could have been produced by this evolutionary 
process, without a special intervention on the part 
of the Creator. In his work on Natural Selection he 
says : — "Force is the product of mind. All force is 
probably will-force. If will is anything, it is a 
power that directs the action of forces stored up in 
the body, and it is not conceivable that this direction 

can take place without the exercise of 
Alfred some force in some part of the organ- 

Waiiace ism. If, therefore, we have traced one 

°vid h n force, however minute, to its origin in 

of will- our will, while we have no knowledge 

creation. °^ an y other primary cause of force, it 

does not seem an improbable conclu- 
sion that all force may be will-force; and thus that 
the whole universe is not merely dependent on, but 
actually is, the will of higher intelligences, or of one 
Supreme Intelligence." 

The next step in our inquiry goes deeper. We 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 61 

have indicated the facts which compel a scientific 
belief in God as an intelligent Creator who mani- 
fests powers of mind and will. We noted in a 
former chapter that Prof. Romanes, after years of 
neglect of man as a part of nature, began the study 
of human nature. The science of Biol- 
ogy had emphasized to the mind of this Romanes 
great specialist the place and im- moral im- 
portance of instinct in animal life. God° 
This instinct always pointed to some- 
thing which satisfied that in the creature which gave 
rise to it. One of the most important facts in human 
nature which commanded the attention of Romanes 
was the religious instinct. But since science teaches 
the uniformity of all law, therefore the biologist 
who is to continue to be scientific must believe that 
religious instinct in man points to something which 
satisfies that in the man which gave rise to it. Just 
as the presence of the will in human nature points 
to the will of the Creator, so the presence of the re- 
ligious nature, the moral consciousness in man, points 
to the moral nature of God. Let us realize fully the 
scientific character of this belief. 

That notable leader of the Brahmo Somaj of In- 
dia, Mr. P. C. Mozoomdar, has given expression to 
this consciousness in the human race of its religious 
nature. He says : "The fact of life and its expand- 
ing domain is a mystery as obstinate as it is aggres- 
sive. It is there undoubtedly: the 
sense of it haunts us from without, dar on 



62 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

man's re- from within, around, above, in matter, 

ture. USna * n mm d> m tne highest and subtlest 

forms of the spirit of man. — We love 
and pray for it. The prayer is wrung out from a 
craving of what is deepest and inmost within us. 
The deepest blessing is the growing manifestation 
and presence and continuance of life in me, in all 
beings that relate to me. God is life. As a living 
Being God abides, in my body as the sum of energy, 
in my spirit as the deeper spirit, at once the essence 
of all things and qualities of this manifold universe. 
But what is a living Spirit, the source and secret of 
all living spirits, without a personality, without a 
moral character ? I have known and felt in this life 
of mine that I live in the Spirit of God. If this 
deepest life of profoundest consciousness in me is a 
lie, then the abyss of that lie swallows me, and there 
is an end of reason, sentiment, morality and every- 
thing." 

Every honest, earnest man is compelled to sub- 
scribe to that description of the yearnings of the 
human soul, in view of the instinctive assertion of 
the religious nature. Let us recall the statement of 
Prof. James regarding the reality of the unseen, and 
the fact that such experiences as these carry a con- 
viction as to their reality which is more convincing 
than could be secured by any process of 
James logic. In the correspondence of that 

Lowell on man of clear, strong mind, Mr. James 
scfous 11 * Russell Lowell, we have the following 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 63 

statement: "I had a vision last Fri- presence 

of God. 

day evening. I never before so clearly 

felt the Spirit of God in me and around me. The 
whole room seemed to me full of God. The air 
seemed to waver to and fro with the presence of 
something I knew not what. I spoke with the calm- 
ness and clearness of a prophet." These are but 
echoes of Paul's statement to the Athenians concern- 
ing Him whom they worshipped as the Unknown 
God, "In Him we live and move and have our being ; 
for we are His offspring." (Acts 17:28.) 

With the appreciation of the moral nature of God 
we must also see how all nature teaches us that God 
is love. As we study the character of all law, we 
learn that every law of nature is a good law. Its 
obedience always brings blessings. Only when law 
is violated or ignored do the calamities and ills of 
life appear. That is to say, love is manifest in all 
law. The penalty which follows the violation of law 
is its necessary defense. The law of purity is only 
maintained by the love of purity, and that love must 
be a burning name against impurity 
evermore. The law of health can only teaches 

realize its precious fruits as its viola- the loye 
. -, , . , of God. 

tions are accompanied by warnings and 

penalties, in heeding which men shall ultimately 
learn to develop buoyant vitality, wholesome sanita- 
tion and clean living. Love of health must maintain 
the penalty of the violated law, until men learn to 
obey it and secure its blessings. We will consider 



64 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the problem of evil in the next chapter, bnt at this 
point let ns realize the great teaching in all the laws 
of nature as clearly pointing to the benevolence of 
the Creator and Ruler of the world. 

Let us now approach the subject from another 
point of view. The science of psychology has taught 
us the necessity of self-revelation of spirit. The 
demonstration of this teaching as in human ex- 
perience. In a cradle yonder you see a body, but 
see no motion and hear no sound. You are led to 
conclude it is a dead body, for there is no evidence 
of the presence of animate life. If, however, you 
perceive motion and sound, you are prepared to be- 
lieve there is a little animal in the cradle. In time 
the little fellow gives evidence of intelligence, and 
you say he is a bright boy. Or it may be that you 
note signs of mental aberration, and 
revelation are compelled to believe the boy is an 

of spirit idiot. This is simply because of the 

necessary. x / 

character of the evidence which ap- 
pears to show the nature of the spirit within. So 
as the boy grows to be a man, people believe in the 
presence and power of his spirit because of his self- 
revelation of his manner of life and quality of char- 
acter, in the product of his genius or in his influence 
among men. Whatever comes out in the self-revela- 
tion of spirit determines our belief in the reality of 
the spirit's presence and power. The spirit is in- 
visible and intangible to the physical senses, but holds 
communion with other spirits like unto himself, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 65 

through physical media. Moreover this realm of 
the invisible spirit is counted the realm of the vital 
realities in human life. A man will sometimes say, 
"I have a soul"; whereas he should say, "I am a 
soul: I have a body." 

Exactly thus do we behold the facts in the crea- 
tion and maintenance of the worlds which compel 
the belief in the mighty Spirit of whom we speak 
as the Creator and Ruler of the same. All the evi- 
dences of the presence and power of an intelligent 
Being, to which Lord Kelvin, Immanuel Kant, and 
others refer, are simply the manifestations of the 
self-revelation of the eternal Spirit whom we call 
God. Whatever has come out in nature 
is simply the revelation of His nature, The self- 
made evident by the character of His f q. 0< j. 
plan and power in the world. The fact 
that He is invisible as Spirit is no more mysterious 
than the fact that every man is invisible as spirit. 
But just as the presence and power of the unseen 
human spirit cannot be doubted because of the evi- 
dences which appear, so the evidences in the realm 
of visible phenomena point with imperative, com- 
pelling conviction to the existence of the invisible 
God, the Maker and Ruler of all things. 

We must note one special fact in this connection. 
Since all that has appeared in nature points to the 
nature of God, we are concerned to study any mani- 
festation in nature which reveals qualities in the 
character of God beyond those which we have noted 



66 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

thus far. At the crown of all nature we find human 

nature, and in the realm of man's life we find the 

fact of fatherhood. This can only mean 

The Fath- one thing concerning God. Fatherhood 

erhood of . ° ° . 

God re- in creation compels belief m f ather- 

natire. * hood in the Creator. The logic of the 

argument is clear. The fact of father- 
hood in creation, with its love, its care, its control, 
reveals the Fatherhood of God as necessary in the 
nature of things. It could not be in creation if it 
were not in the Creator. Therefore the scientific be- 
lief in God can be nothing less than the belief in Him 
as our Father in the heavens, who loves and cares 
for us even as an earthly father, but with infinitely 
greater wisdom and love, revealed in all His laws 
and in His gifts of life and blessings to men. 

Therefore when Jesus Christ pointed men, who 
had lost the true conception of God, to the truth of 
the Fatherhood of God, He was not only revealing 
the most profound truth in itself, for the inspiration 
and the redemption of men unto God; but He was 
also thoroughly scientific. It was in the nature of 
things that the Creator should reveal 
Christ's His character in His creation, and at 

concern- the top of that creation the fatherhood 

F S th he °^ man evermore points to the divine 

hood of Fatherhood in the Creator. Men had 

ti f iCt lost sight of this fact, and in their con- 

ception of God had grown far away 
from the sense of His immanence in His world, and 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 67 

from the idea that He is an abiding presence among 
men, immediately concerned about us, caring for us 
and anxious to be a Father to us. Nothing less could 
be true of a father. It was Christ who brought to 
men this age-long, but forgotten truth of the Father- 
hood of God. 

But here, as in all our study, we must not forget 
that the spiritual discernment is necessary to a living 
realization of God's Fatherhood. That spiritual dis- 
cernment can only come from a spiritual experience 
of the truth. If we should see a child looking long- 
ingly through a telescope to see God among the stars, 
we would smile. But why ? Because we realize that 
back of the Creator and Ruler, whose plan and power 
in the universe are made manifest by the revelations 
of the telescope, there is a quality in the being of God 
not visible to the eye of flesh. It is a 
moral quality visible only to the eye of The apirit- 
^ \ 1 + a • • f+U ual vision 

the spirit, nay only to the vision of the of God. 

spiritual man who has cultivated that 
vision. Therefore it is that when some men have 
done the very thing which causes us to smile at the 
child, reporting that they cannot find the God of 
love, we know just why they have failed. This 
vision is not found through the telescope, but through 
the. eye of the soul. "Blessed are the pure in heart, 
for they shall see God/' are the words of our Christ, 
our Master-specialist. This purity of heart means 
at bottom absolute sincerity with God and men. 
Just here is the difficulty with many in the matter 



68 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of believing in God. Very few doubt the evidence of 
a Creator and Ruler of the world ; but they are slow 
to believe in His love as the divine Father of men. 
We have pointed out the necessity of recognizing all 
law as proving the love of God because of the bless- 
ings that follow their obedience. And we have just 
seen how we are compelled to believe in the Father- 
hood of God because it is manifest in the nature of 
the creation. Our problem therefore is to discover 
how the love of our Father in the 

How can heavens, in which we must believe, 

a God of . , 

love allow could allow mankind to experience such 

suttering? suffering as marks human history. We 
have pointed out the fact that this 
problem must be approached at the point where the 
love of purity must maintain the law of purity by 
inflicting the penalty which follows its disobedience. 
We shall deal with this question in the discussion of 
the subject of character, but just here it is important 
to realize a vital fact about the character of those 
who do believe in the love of God. The sincerity of 
heart which gives a vision of God is one of the con- 
ditions to that spiritual discernment which we noted 
in the first chapter as being strictly scientific. Some 
people do not understand it any more than they 
understand musical discernment. But many possess 
it and are conscious of its blessings in their lives, 
and of the light which it sheds on this subject of the 
scientific belief in the love of God. This sincerity 
does not simply pretend to be concerned about the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 69 

world's suffering, when pointing to it as a reason for 
not believing in the love of God ; but sees that God's 
love is in all nature, with healing potency, and above 
all in Jesus Christ with redeeming grace. 

Consider this difference. George Eliot was a bril- 
liant novelist, but her unbelief created an atmosphere 
chill and unhealthy. She declared that she could 
not believe in a God of love who would allow such 
sin and misery in the world. But what 
kind of real concern did she have ? W ho see 
None. She sat by, doing nothing to ®°a w^Id 
help better the situation. A selfish of suffer- 
heart blinded the intellect, and the 
vision of God could not be seen. George MacDonald 
was just as brilliant a novelist as George Eliot. He 
too saw the sin and suffering of men, but his heart 
leaped in a great love to win them from their sin, 
and relieve their suffering. He tells us he learned 
this love for men from Jesus Christ and found it 
blessed. One thing George MacDonald preached to 
the world as being the thing of which he was cer- 
tain, whatever else he might doubt : that was the love 
of God. It was this message which brought hope 
and comfort and a mighty power to save the men to 
whom he ministered amidst their pitiful conditions 
of weakness and sorrow and sin. 

JSTo man took upon his heart the sin and sorrow of 
a suffering world as did Jesus Christ. He gave His 
life to heal and help it. Yet no man saw the love of 
God so fully as did Jesus Christ. We have said the 



70 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

only hope of the world is a Teacher whose philosophy 
of life is broad enough to include both of these facts. 
Both are evident. God's love is proved 
Christ j n Grod'g law. We must see love in the 

love of world as surely as we see sin and suffer- 

fermgmen" * n &* ^ e w ^° W011 ^ exclude either in 
his attempt to solve life's problem has 
failed. Jesus Christ alone of all the teachers of men 
shows us, as men who know both of these facts, how 
to believe in the loving Fatherhood of God. The 
Schopenhauers nurse pessimism in intellectual dark- 
ness because there are mysteries which they cannot 
solve, and refuse to accept the facts which touch 
those mysteries. We have shown this method unscien- 
tific. It has no ray of hope for the world. The 
Booths organize the Salvation Army and take the 
sin and suffering, with all its mystery, on their hearts 
of love, glorifying the most blessed fact in the world, 
that there is a love which has brought us the power 
which saves from sin, and brings peace to men. It 
is manifest which of these have the vision of God. 
The light of His love shines upon the way where 
they hasten, and men thank God for their coming. 

We have spoken of the broad-minded people and 
those of a narrow view. That narrow view which 
cannot see the love of God in the world has only a 
Gospel of despair for men. It sees no light in the 
darkness, no comfort for the sorrowing, no victory 
over sin. It has never helped the world onward one 
inch in all the centuries. The broad-minded view 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN GOD. 71 

takes every fact into the account, and is therefore 
the only scientific view. It sees God, the loving 
Father in the heavens, at once maintaining His right- 
eous laws, and striving with divine 
patience and love to redeem the men tific belief 
who violate them in wilful or ignorant to God the 
sin. This view relates every difficulty sonabie 
in the problem to its proper place, and Jj^Skind 
out of it all has a vision of God which 
is the world's joy and the world's hope. It is this 
scientific belief in God which is the hope of man- 
kind. It is a most important fact to remember that 
the vast majority of the men whose lives reveal the 
strength of true character the world over thus be- 
lieve in God, through the fulness of the teaching of 
Jesus Christ. 



THE 
SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 



13 



IV. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF m CHAKACTEE. 

Our study now turns to man, the crown of the 
earthly creation. It is our purpose to consider at 
once that sphere of human life which is distinctive 
of man. In his Data of Ethics, Mr. Spencer sug- 
gests that we are accustomed to call anything a suc- 
cess or a failure, according as it accomplishes that 
which its form of construction shows what its maker 
intended it to be or to do. For instance, an um- 
brella shows by its form of construction that its 

maker intended it to keep off the rain. 

T , i n , Man's dis- 

It may be used as a cane, or to orna- tinctive 

ment the wall ; but if it will not keep off realm of 

... x character. 

the ram, it is a failure as an umbrella. 

Let us follow this suggestion. If we should see sev- 
eral machines with much in common, but each hav- 
ing a distinctive feature, one a rake, another a knife, 
etc., we would instantly say the maker intended each 
machine to accomplish its distinctive work in con- 
nection with its knife, or rake. 

Applying these tests to man, we rise immediately 
to the realm of the moral and spiritual life, and say 
it is evident from the constitution of the human 
being that the Maker intended man to realize his dis- 

75 



76 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

tinctive development in this realm of the spiritual 
life in the making of character. All his powers of 
intellect, affections and will converge toward this 
realization in the manifest purpose of God. Prof. 
St. George Mivart says man is further above the ape 
than the ape is above the blade of grass. John Fiske 
likewise declares that we must divide 
spiritual the universe, putting man on one side 

superior- an( j a n e i se on ^he other. These men 

ity. 

point out that evolution henceforth has 

no need of further physical development, since all 
progress must now be through the psychical, and 
"organic evolution gives place to civilization for the 
perfecting of man." We touch the heart of the truth 
when we say no creature below man ever hungered 
after righteousness, while no man can ever be truly 
satisfied with anything else. 

What now must we say of the men who do not 
realize the plan and purpose of God for them ? Some 
manage to be a tailor's model, actually measuring 
manhood by millinery — a necktie ! Some achieve 
splendid physical development. They measure man- 
hood by muscle. This is their world, where the ani- 
mal is all. Some cultivate a pleasing address and 
attractive appearance. They measure manhood by 
manners. Some amass wealth, sufficient to fill their 
graves. They measure manhood by money. To them 
a man's bank account is really the index of what he 
is worth to the world. Some develop 
ure e c ^ iea8 " masterful intellects, running the gamut 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 77 

of the world's thought. They measure manhood. 
manhood by mind. This is the world 
of reality and satisfaction for them. Some rise still 
higher and insist upon honesty in business, kindness 
in dealing with their fellows, fidelity and considera- 
tion and generosity in the home life, a high moral 
standard. They measure manhood by morals. 

Now all these elements enter into a rounded man- 
hood and have relative values, but they are not all, 
nor enough. Though a man have all these, if he 
should fail to rise to the plane of realizing his spir- 
itual possibilities, knowing his relation to God, build- 
ing character as the exponent of the eternal life, 
though his name be written high on the scroll of 
fame ; yet across the record of his career it must be 
written — But he was a failure as an immortal soul. 
Some men measure manhood by the man Christ 
Jesus, and for such the fulness of the 
stature of the perfect man is in Him. tion Q { 
Says Fiske: — "Toward the spiritual character 

r • i in Chrlst - 

perfection of humanity the stupendous 
momentum of the cosmic forces has all along been 
tending." It is Paul's thought when he says the 
destiny which God's plan has for man is that he 
"should be conformed to the image of His Son," and 
the Son is "the express image of the Father." We 
are again facing the fact that our greatest Specialist 
in character is the only one in whom perfect man- 
hood is revealed to the human race. 

But as men measure themselves by Him, this fail- 



78 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

lire of which we have spoken becomes pitifully ap- 
parent. And it is evidently explained by the fact 
that men have not obeyed that law of God which 
is written in the very constitution of the human soul. 
We call this violation or neglect of law sin. A popu- 
lar phrase conceives of men as break- 
Man's sin i n g the laws of God. This phrase is 
a violation 
of law. unfortunate. When men violate the 

law, they do not break the law, but 
break themselves against the law. The law remains 
eternally unchanged as the nature of God. Men may 
violate the law of health, but the result is not the 
broken law, but broken health. Just so with the law 
of righteousness. We see broken manhood all about 
us because God's law has been violated, wilfully 
transgressed or carelessly neglected. 

This fact that sin is lawlessness must be earnestly 
emphasized. We know what lawlessness means in 
human government. The science of sociology exalts 
the place of law. The scientific demand of every in- 
telligent citizen is that he cultivate reverence for law. 
But this reverence must evidently be given to the 
laws of God, since lawlessness in the divine govern- 
ment must be just as fatal as in that of men. That 
is to say, the science of sociology demands that God 
shall maintain His law, because the order of the uni- 
verse depends upon it. The law of God, as we have 
already seen in a former chapter, is the expression 
of the nature of God Himself; and if God is to re- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 79 

main righteous and is to maintain His 
love of righteousness, He must main- The fatal- 
tain His law of righteousness. The lessness. 
man who violates the law of the state 
endangers the life of the state. The Apostle James 
says, "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet 
offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 
2:10.) Sin is not a matter of quantity, but of 
principle in the heart. It is a willingness to dis- 
obey, no matter how slight the disobedience. It is 
a failure to be absolutely true to the right and gladly 
obedient to the law in the love of it as the expres- 
sion of the holy will of God. Where this obedience 
is not given, broken character is the result. 

The word salvation means health. Sin is disease. 
The words heal, and whole and holy are all the same 
word at its root meaning. The principle of sin must 
be studied in the light of this fundamental fact. 
Disease is the result of the violation of the law of 
health. To neglect the law is as fatal as to violate 
it wilfully. Sin results from the transgression or 
neglect of the law of wholeness, or holiness, or health. 
We usually think of disease as applying 
to the physical man, and of sin as ap- Therefore 
plying to the spiritual man ; but the ity of sin. 
whole man is involved in wholeness. 
Note here the difference between sin and guilt. Sin 
often brings a general condition upon many who are 
not themselves conscious violaters of the law, as the 
children of a drunkard. But just so is it with the 



80 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

children of any sinner. Guilt marks the crime of 
conscious wilful violation of law. Thus it comes to 
pass that every human being is born into sin, the 
sin of the race, deepening and deadening through the 
centuries. The science of biology points to marvel- 
ous facts of heredity in all forms of life ; but to noth- 
ing more inevitable than the persistence of the marks 
of sin in human life. The scientific belief in char- 
acter compels the recognition of the fact that man's 
problem is not simply that of guilt, but also that of 
sin. Many fail to realize the fatality of sin because 
they are not keenly conscious of guilt. This fatality 
is all too apparent on every side. It is the pathos 
of human history. 

It is the presence of this fact of sin in the world 
which has led many to declare their inability to be- 
lieve in the love of God. How could a loving Father 
create man, and involve him in such sorrows as the 
race knows in sin and suffering ? No man has com- 
prehended the problem of evil, and we have no rea- 
son to suppose that human limitations 
lemo/evTl w ^ ever a ^ ow °^ fullest understand- 
ing of it in the earthly life. Of all the 
mysteries which surround us this one seems to be the 
greatest in the concern of men. There are some facts, 
however, which we may appreciate about the presence 
of evil, which help us somewhat to apprehend its 
necessity in the making of character. 

If we can find in nature generally a principle 
which is in harmony with the principle of evil in the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 81 

moral consciousness, we shall be able to appreciate a 
certain necessity for its presence in human develop- 
ment. Let us begin with the fact of consciousness. 
This fact is the most solid of all realities. It is the 
soul's most fundamental fact in which the apprecia- 
tion of existence rests. But consciousness is only 
possible because of unceasing changes in the realm of 
consciousness. Otherwise there could 
be only a blank. Some element of un- The ele- 
likeness must touch that of sameness, variety in 
causing a variety, and producing that n ^?S? in- 
discrimination of it which is the ex- volvesre- 

j. . , /. -i . i sistant 

perience of consciousness, out oi which forces. 

comes the recognition of self as dif- 
ferent from that which is not self. So in the realm 
of color, if everything were green, there could be 
no sense of color. If everything were sweet, there 
could be no sense of taste. Unless there were variety 
in sound, there could be no appreciation of sound. 
Unless the touch of pain were upon the life, there 
could be no realization of the reality of pleasure. 
(This suggestion is from Mr. John jFiske.) 

It is in exact harmony with this principle of 
variety that we realize the inevitable fact that we 
could have no appreciation of the good unless the evil 
be present. In all the foregoing instances the enter- 
ing in of the element which involves variety, and the 
basis for consciousness, carries the effect of an antag- 
onistic force, a resistant power to be dealt with. In 
the realm of character this must be the principle of 



82 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

evil. Without it moral consciousness would be un- 
thinkable, for character is that moral strength which 
results from the growth of a free moral agent, in 
the victory over the power of evil. The 

The prin- struggle of the moral agent involves the 

ciple of . . . i.i. 

evilneces- recognition of that which is opposed to 

character. ^ ne g 00 ^- It is the appreciation in the 
moral consciousness that obedience to 
the law is according to the will of God, while viola- 
tion of the law is contrary to the will of God. Evil 
is recognized as the possible alternative which the 
moral agent may choose, as he faces the duty of de- 
ciding to obey or disobey the law of righteousness. 
Hence there can be no holy life without the 
presence and withstanding of evil. Since this ne- 
cessity cannot be denied, let us emphasize earnestly 
the scientific demand that we accept a manifest fact 
though it be touched by mystery. This much is clear. 
Evil is necessary as the condition of moral character. 
But let us note clearly that the presence of evil 
is not the same thing as the fact of sin. Man must 
contend against evil if moral character be made ; but 
man did not need to yield to the power of evil. It 
was not according to the desire of God that man 
should yield to evil. 'Not until man yielded to evil 
did sin enter into the human heart, bringing the 
sense of guilt with it. We must re- 
clearly 1 member that Christ was tempted in all 

displeas- points like as we are, yet without sin. 

ing to God. . 

He could only realize the perfection of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 83 

moral character by going through this same disci- 
pline of withstanding evil; but it was not necessary 
that he should yield to the power of evil. It was 
man's fatal violation of the law of God that gave 
evil more than its original place as a resistant force 
in human discipline. It became a master where it 
should only be an antagonist, while man, who should 
have been a conqueror, became a slave. 

This most important fact is the more apparent 
when we remember the statements previously made 
regarding the evidence of the nature of God being 
manifest in the laws which are the expression of His 
will. But sin is a violation of the law. The prin- 
ciple of evil is the very thing against which the law 
ever warns us, as it points the way of blessing 
through obedience. This is therefore the final proof 
that sin, which is against God's law, is repugnant to 
God. He can take no pleasure in the 

wicked who refuse to walk in a law- God's will 

. . . . . » in law. 

abiding spirit m the way of blessing. Sin the 

God has allowed the presence of evil, 3 °aw° n 
as necessary to moral character; but 
yielding to evil, in violation of God's law, is mani- 
festly contrary* to God's will, and separates men from 
the fellowship of God. The children forfeit the son- 
ship, suffering comes in as the penalty of sin, and 
the race writes its history in blood and tears. 

If men complain that God ought to have made a 
world where all could have developed moral char- 
acter without running the risk of incurring any ill 



84 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

effects because of disobedience, they might as well 
insist that God should have made a 
God's pur- world where two and two make five, and 
dicated. where circles would be square. For we 

have found this principle to be in the 
nature of things, if conscious personality is to de- 
velop character. Men might as well insist upon a 
form of human government where citizens could be 
lawless without suffering the penalty. Society is im- 
possible in strength and prosperity except where law 
is reverenced and gladly obeyed. Law in community 
relations is for the very purpose of developing the 
finest possible life in each citizen as a member of 
the social fabric. Just so the evident purpose of 
God is that man should realize righteousness by con- 
quering evil. The struggle for character is the high- 
est condition of moral victory and spiritual life. 
Obedience to the law of God is ever the way of growth 
for the man who knows that only thus is it possible to 
realize the noblest character in the individual, and 
to realize the consummation of a humanity rising 
into increasing fellowship with God. 

We know that men in civilized society instantly 
repudiate the suggestion that lawlessness be ignored. 
Social chaos would follow. Evidently it is just as 
impossible for God to ignore lawlessness; for it is 
rebellion against Him, and must be put down. Only 
a law-loving and law-abiding spirit can be worthy of 
the children of God, and nothing else can be worthy 
of God. A loving father must be obeyed, or disci- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 85 

pline ceases, and the disobedient child ruins his char- 
acter in self-will. Should the earthly father be a 
king whose kingdom must be admin- 
istered for the good of millions, he T , h ® ? B " 

obedient 

must subject his lawless child to dis- must be 
cipline by enforcing the penalty of the pifned. 
violated law. The science of sociology 
insists that the welfare of the kingdom demands this. 
That father, in connection with the discipline, will 
do all in his power to win the child to loving obedi- 
ence, and to the appreciation of the blessedness of 
such obedience. Just so must our loving Father in 
the heavens do, both in discipline and in the work of 
restoration. 

It becomes perfectly manifest, in view of these 
facts, that any process which will bring man into a 
new life of freedom from sin must be a process of 
discipline, which will lead through the suffering 
which comes as the penalty of violated law. The 
physician who comes to heal the sin- 
sick will have some painful operations tion onl " 

to perform. Moreover let us realize through 

, . discipline. 

that this remedial work must be thor- 
ough-going. You cannot heal a man who has small- 
pox until the small-pox is gone. Redemption from 
sin is not simply the escape from the penalty of sin ; 
but the realization of the power to conquer sin. Not 
simply the fear of punishment can safeguard a man 
from the power of evil. We have shown that only 
the love of purity can bring the power of the law 



86 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of purity into the life. Nothing else will secure vic- 
tory over sin in the human heart. 

We need to emphasize the hopelessness of sin, for 
there are those who deny its awfulness, and would 
have us belittle its power to kill the soul. We can 
only pity their blindness. The broken life is the 
harbinger of death. The man who starves must die. 
It is true spiritually as well as physically. True 
happiness is impossible for the man who knows he is 
the victim of a fatal disease. All the money in the 
world cannot buy living water for the thirsty soul. 
Man must turn back to the love of God 
The wreck in order to live in obedience to God's 
wrought. l aw - Everywhere are written the words, 

"Obey and live : disobey and die !" The 
bread that perishes mocks the hunger of the immortal 
spirit. History has recorded the despair of the men 
who have realized their helplessness and hopeless- 
ness in sin. Cicero wrote in De Legibus: "We talk 
as if all the miseries of men were comprehended in 
death, pain of body and sorrow of mind; but the 
sting of conscience, the remorse of guilt, is in itself 
the greatest evil." 

One of the worst pieces of folly in human history 
is the folly of ignoring the deadly character of sin. 
Certain evolutionists would have us believe it to be 
only the mark of ignorance clinging to the man as 
he leaves the animal behind. But the assumption 
of the evolutionist that man is everywhere leaving 
the animal behind is not justified by the facts. Evo- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 87 

lution does not mean always a progress from the 

bad to the good. It means the develop- 

4. £ t * • • 4.1. j The folly 

ment 01 what is m the germ, good or of ignoring 

bad. Snakes continue to breed snakes. thedeadii- 

ness of sin. 

Eagles continue to hatch out eagles. 
Evil becomes more completely evil, and good devel- 
ops an increasing good. Ages ago men who sought 
righteousness revealed characters as fine as our own 
time produces, as they lived in fellowship with God, 
while our age beholds moral degradation in some men 
as great as the race ever knew. 

Erom this condition of sin the pagan world saw 
no way of escape. Lucretius wrote, "Let us trample 
religion under out feet." A desolating fatalism 
filled the popular mind. Zeno and Cleanthes both 
committed suicide, and their Stoicism has been de- 
scribed as "an apprenticeship for 

death." Seneca wrote, "Seest thou JS?i*S" 

7 pair in sin. 

thy throat, thy heart : they are the ways 
of escape from bondage," then took poison and 
opened his veins, crying, "Ah, if one might only have 
a guide to truth!" Such was the wreck to which 
human character had come through the violation of 
the laws of God. The Apostle Paul described men 
aright when he said, "they were without God, and 
without hope in the world." 

It was at this time that Jesus Christ came as the 
revealer of character to men, a character so perfect 
that no man could ever suggest how it could be im- 
proved by adding anything to it, or by taking any- 



88 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

thing from it. We shall discuss His coming, His 

teaching, His character, His work, in a later chapter. 

At this time it is important to take ac- 

Christ's count of the fact. There is a historic 

cheHfeictor 

the one character standing at the pivot-point of 

per ect ^ wor i(j'g history, which has come to 

be the world's light of life, the world's 
hope of victory. We are about to consider, in the 
following chapters, the method of God's work of re- 
demption which is consummated in Christ. But pre- 
liminary to that study we must note certain facts 
about human character which naturally suggest the 
method which would meet sinful man's need. Human 
nature is God's creation, and science teaches in all 
nature a marvelous adaptation in the Creator's plan 
according to the need of the creature. 

The artistic science of photography points the way 
for us just at this point. Character building is a 
process of spiritual photography. "As a man think- 
eth in his heart, so is he." We all know the truth of 
this. It is this inner consciousness which convicts 
of sin so surely. We are able often to live circum- 
spect lives outwardly; but the real life 
bunding*! is i n tne realm of the thoughts and de- 
process of sires. Out of the inmost life we know 
spiritual 
photogra- the evil comes, as Christ said. Until 

phy * there shall touch the inmost life of the 

sinner a power which shall cleanse it from sin, the 
case is hopeless. And until man shall realize the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 89 

necessity of this mighty transformation, his problem 
of character is hopeless, and can never be solved. 

But this power must be the power of the truth. 
Paul's description of this process of character-build- 
ing is accurately scientific : a We all, reflecting as a 
mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into 
the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the 
Lord, the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:18.) Again he re- 
fers to the same process when he urges the Eomans 
not to be "conformed to this world," but to be "trans- 
formed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may 
prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable 
will of God." (Eom. 12:1-2.) Now reflection is 
of two kinds, and both are involved in 
this process of transformation. First, man's 
is that reflection which marks every ?J. a !jf ot ? r 
man's life, revealing just what is the tionofhis 
dominant thought in his real living. If 
you wish to know the man, you do not ask him about 
himself. You just watch him for a time. The real 
character is revealed in what he does. His actions 
prove the true nature of his dominant ambitions, his 
inmost desires, his honest struggle. He is absorbed 
by some vision of the thing which he desires to 
secure. It may be worthy or unworthy, but it is 
there. He believes this is the thing most worth 
while. He may be deceived, but the belief is the ex- 
planation of his life. His faith, its quality, its in- 
tensity, is the index to the real life of the man. 



90 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

The other kind of reflection is the concentration 
of man's powers of thinking upon the subject in 
hand. It is not an accident which indicates the real 
significance of such thinking. Contemplation is con- 
templing, building a temple. Instruction is build- 
ing a structure in the soul. Information is a form- 
ing in the life of a character which is simply the 
product of the spiritual photography, according to 
which the vision of the truth makes its impression 

upon the life. That old adage that 
tific de- en " teaches that "knowledge is power" is 
mandfor true. Therefore the scientific demand 

tion of a for the redemption of sinful man, with 

to men 6 ^ 8 broken character, out of his despair 

because of his conscious weakness, is 
for a vision of a life which shall reveal the truth 
which has the power to make men free, which has 
transforming power sufficient to change the convic- 
tions, the desires, the purposes of men. Will God 
give men such a vision as this ? Will the law written 
in all nature which points to the adequate supply 
of the need of the creature, fail at this point to 
meet the need of man, the highest of all creation? 
Everywhere in nature potencies of healing set to work 
to heal any hurt in plant or animal life. The uni- 
formity of law compels the scientific inference that 
the Creator will meet this need in man. Moreover 
the fact that man is the highest of the creatures jus- 
tifies the expectation that the manifestation of God 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 91 

in meeting human needs at this point will be the 
highest form of manifestation of His nature, His 
presence, His power, ever given. 

In a former chapter we have noted man's finite 
limitations, and the consequent impossibility of his 
ever solving the problems of human life without a 
revelation from above. This fact relates itself to the 
moral need just emphasized. But there is another 
fact which points to the reasonableness of believing 
that God will give man a vision of the life that is 
above the level of the human. This is the fact of 
the marvelous endowment which God has given to 
man, in the capacity to become a child of God. 
Though finite, man's place in nature bespeaks his 
place in the Creator's plan and his powers indicate 
that his life can only be satisfied in fellowship with 
God. He has unraveled many of the mysteries 
which at one time hid their secrets. His discoveries, 
his increasing mastery of the forces 
of nature, his progress in the arts, pacityan 
his power in the classification of knowl- therevela- 
edge, his creative ability in so many tion of 
spheres, his supplementing of nature 
itself in the cultivation of varied forms of fruit and 
flower, his appreciation of the harmonies of sound 
and actual production of them in great oratorios, and 
above all his moral discernment which has wrought 
itself into the fibre of a civilization which has ever 
suggested the victory of righteousness both for the 



92 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

individual and for society, — all this reveals such pos- 
sibilities- in the development of human character as 
to make it impossible to believe that a loving Father 
in the heavens would not seek to realize in man a 
constant growth of this fellowship of knowledge and 
power in a life in union with Himself. Every teach- 
ing of science concerning progress in all creation 
points with compelling conviction to this revelation 
of God to men. 

But the entrance of sin has marred the wonderful 
picture, and man's ability only increases his con- 
demnation. Had sin never entered, it is a scientific 
inference to believe that a revelation of God might 
have been given to men, as a means to a more com- 
plete development of knowledge and life into a grow- 
ing fellowship on the part of the children with the 
Father. But the fact of the entrance of sin made 
it necessary to give to men that knowledge of God 
which would first lead to the redemption of the 
human character from sin, and then point to the 
possibilities of the future glories of the 

The reve- redeemed character in the onward de- 
lation of 
redeem- velopment of the powers which even 

l« s Ji~« e now are so marvelous in the human 

to men. 

soul. The healing power in all nature 
points us to the redeeming love in the heavenly 
Father's heart, a love which could not fail to do 
everything that could be done for the restoration of 
mankind. We shall show in the succeeding chapters 
that this revelation of redeeming grace has been 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 93 

given, this redemption has been provided for men 
through Jesus Christ. 

But there is another vital consideration to be noted 
before we turn from the study of character. It is 
the subject of man's responsibility in view of all 
the facts which we have brought into our discussion. 
There are some who will say that since man is born 
into sin, with the tendency to sin confirmed through 
centuries of human transgression, it is impossible 
for him to resist the power of evil, and therefore he 
is not responsible for his sin. It is true that respon- 
sibility is measured by ability and opportunity. Duty 
takes on meaning in view of this responsibility. 
Moral obligation is measured by conscious responsi- 
bility, and character is the outcome of the degree to 
which man is faithful to recognized duty. We reach 
the basal facts involved in this question 
by noting the significance of the terms sponsibil- 

which point us to the truth. Duty is itycon- 

sidered. 
that which is due. Obligation is a 

debt. That which is due we owe. But the word 
"ought" simply tells us that we owe it. How then 
are we to determine what we owe? By testing the 
validity of the claims which are made upon us. 
These claims are of three sorts. 

First, our own nature makes certain claims. We 
realize, as we consider these claims, that we owe cer- 
tain things to our physical nature, and certain things 
to our psychical nature, and certain things to our 
spiritual nature. There is a danger that we may pay 



94 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

more than we owe to the physical, and go bankrupt 
in the realm of the spiritual. But man 
terming * s a soc ^ being, and cannot live nnto 

by the himself. Right springs out of rights. 

claims Rights and moral obligations grow out 

emus 111 *" °^ relationships. We owe some things 

to society. Every man bears his own 
burden only as he sees that part of it is helping to 
bear the burdens of others. There is a danger that we 
may give more to self than we owe, as compared with 
what we owe to our fellow men. But man is also a 
creature. We have noted in the beginning of this 
chapter how the purpose of the Maker is written into 
the very constitution of the human soul. Man's en- 
do wnment, his marvelous capacity, which we have 
noted, constitutes the claim of God upon him to re- 
alize his highest development up to the best possible 
unfolding of his life in fellowship with God. There 
is a danger that man may give more relatively than 
he owes to self, or earthly concerns, and fail to give 
that which he owes to God. Not only is duty to self 
best realized in the faithful discharge of duty to our 
fellow men, but both of these are best discharged as 
we are faithful to our duty toward God. 

But, as has been said, sin has weakened the moral 
nature of men, and they find themselves coming short 
of the purpose of God, coming short of the hopes of 
their friends, coming short of their own best pur- 
poses. How then shall we fix responsibility for 
man's estate ? Let us note that men have established 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 95 

a great system of jurisprudence, which rests upon 
a world-wide recognition of human responsibility 
for conduct. Men everywhere are counted responsi- 
ble if they violate the laws of the state. 
No excuse is accepted for such violation law prove 
of law unless the plea of insanity can man's re- 
be established. This means that the of moral 
scientific demand upon every moral be- Sffiy 1181 " 
ing is the demand that he shall face his 
moral responsibility honestly, and not try to shirk it, 
when he knows he is guilty of sin. The first condi- 
tion to any man's being a better man is the honest 
confession of known sin. To that must be added a 
genuine repentance of his sin, with full purpose of 
and endeavor after a new obedience to the law. The 
man who is not willing to confess his sin is hopeless, 
so long as he refuses to be honest before God about 
this matter. 

But all this is not enough. Man is still conscious 
of his weakness in the face of evil. He is not able 
to save himself from sin. The history of the race is 
proof of this fact. Where then is his responsibility ? 
Note the answer ; nothing is more important to char- 
acter building than to realize it clearly, and with 
compelling conviction. Man has not the ability of 
the agent, but he has the ability of the recipient. He 
has not the power to save himself from sin ; but when 
a salvation is offered to him, he has the power to 
accept or reject it. This power every man is exer- 
cising every day. Therefore every man is responsi- 



96 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ble for his moral condition who has been offered the 
power that will enable him to conquer sin, if he will 
receive it. In the succeeding chapters we shall show 
how this offered salvation has been 
sponsibfl"- brought to men in Jesus Christ. But 
itynot before we conclude our discussion of 

agent, but the problem of character, it must be 
that of the fully realized that every man is re- 
sponsible for his attitude, as a recipient, 
toward Jesus Christ. We have shown the scientific 
demand which compels a man to go to Christ who 
wishes character. We here have seen how the moral 
constraint is perfectly clear in view of man's need, 
and in view of the offered salvation which Christ has 
brought to men. If I wish to go to London, but 
have no money, I am not responsible for not going. 
But if one offers me a thousand dollars, I am then 
responsible, for I may accept, or reject, that which 
enables me to do what I could not do before. 

The review of the foregoing will bring the reader 
to the clearer realization of the truth of his tre- 
mendous responsibility for his character and destiny. 
God has marvelously endowed him with capacity to 
reach up to the very fellowship of God, if only he 
possesses the power to conquer sin. But unless he 
shall have that power, his manhood is doomed to be 
a wreck. Let men face the fact with 
tiny is in " sobered minds and earnest hearts. Your 
your own destiny is in your own hands. Christ 

stands at the door and knocks. You 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHARACTER. 97 

hold the key. You must open the door. You have 
either opened it, or you are barring it against the 
entrance of your Saviour. Your character, broken 
by sin, is hopeless and helpless except you open the 
heart to Jesus Christ. He offers to you the way of 
life. Thousands have proved Him true, and have 
proved His power to be sufficient to give the victory 
over sin, transforming the character. In fact the 
explanation of much of that splendid achievement on 
the part of men already noted in this chapter is the 
fact that most of them are redeemed men, having a 
new vision of life and insight into truth because they 
know Christ. He offers all this to you. You alone 
are responsible, for you have the power of the re- 
cipient, to accept Him, or to reject Him. What will 
you do with Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of men ? 

G 



THE 
SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 

t.rft. 



99 



V. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 

The considerations presented in the preceding 
chapters have prepared us to see the reasonableness 
of believing that God would give to men a revela- 
tion of the knowledge necessary for the redemption 
of man from sin, and for the development of the 
human character into an increasing fellowship with 
God. Therefore, when we come to study the writings 
held sacred by different religions, and claiming to 
be revelations from God, we are at once prepared to 
make our test of the validity of the 
claims. Our first question is — What test the 
result do these writings produce in the the Turrit- 
making of character ? That is the first in S s 

° sacred to 

and final question. Many others go various 
with it; but it is supreme. For in- re glons " 
stance, if the Koran teaches a cosmogony which is 
denied by the telescope, that is against it, in so far ; 
yet if the teachings of the Koran actually led men 
to produce the best characters in the history of the 
race, the fact that its idea of the world is not scien- 
tific would not be sufficient to lead men to cast it 
aside. What the world wants is a teaching that will 

101 



102 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

enable it to conquer sin and realize a redeemed char- 
acter. Now the Bible is both harmonious with the 
teachings of science and history; but its power in 
the world is explained by the fact that its system of 
truth is proving the greatest source of light for men 
in the darkness of sin. 

That careful student of social conditions, Mr. 
Benjamin Kidd, has declared that the greatest factor 
in any nation's life is not its commercial factor, not 
its social factor, not its intellectual factor, but is 
its moral and religious factor. Therefore we have 
a point of view from which to test the various moral 
and religious teachings known to men. These teach- 
ings have had distinctive spheres of influence, and 
their real power is proved in the life of the people 
who have accepted them. Thus China 
applied in is the answer to Confucianism, India 

the life of - g fa e answer to Hinduism and 

tne na- 
tions of Buddhism, the Turkish Empire is the 

answer to Mohammedanism, the Rus- 
sian Empire is the answer to the teachings of the 
Greek Church, the Papal country is the answer to 
the teachings of Roman Catholicism, and the Protes- 
tant nations are the answer to the teachings of 
Protestant Christianity. Nothing more in detail is 
necessary to be said at this point. Intelligent stu- 
dents of history agree that the Christian's Bible, 
thus tested, must be placed first among the revered 
writings of men, as the book whose moral and re- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 103 

ligious teachings have been proved the best the world 
has ever known. 

Our next inquiry, therefore, is as to the character 
of the Bible in its teaching. Does this teaching 
meet the needs of men which we have noted in the 
preceding chapters. If so, it has vindicated its claim 
upon every honest seeker after character. We are 
concerned about all the facts regarding the Bible, 
its origin, its literary form, its historic and scien- 
tific features, and we shall consider all these. But 
these considerations must never be put on the same 
level with the supreme purpose of the book. The 
Apostle Paul tells us of this purpose in 
his letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:15- p r h e e m e U p Ur . 

17), where he speaks of "the sacred pose of the 

. . . Bible, 

writings which are able to make thee 

wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus," and adds, "Every Scripture inspired of God 
is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for cor- 
rection, for instruction which is in righteousness: 
that the man of God may be complete, furnished 
completely unto every good work." The Apostle 
John also, (John 20: 31) says concerning the writ- 
ing of the Gospel which bears his name, "These are 
written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, 
and that believing ye may have life in His name." 
Our scientific question now is — Does the Bible ac- 
complish that which Paul and John declare to be 
its purpose ? Does it lead men to believe in Jesus 



104 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

Christ? Does it, through this faith, realize in men 
spiritual life? Does its teaching produce a char- 
acter of such sort as to lead men to say its fruits 
are proof of the validity of its claim ? 

Where shall we go for our answer to these ques- 
tions ? Evidently we must go to those places where 
the Bible has been most fairly tested, where its 
teachings have been most faithfully lived by men in 
daily life. JSTot where the Bible is nominally ac- 
cepted, yet kept from the people ; but to those lands 
where the Bible is in the hands of the people, as 
their rule of faith and daily practice. That is to 
say, the only scientific test possible must be in 
Protestant Christian lands, or where Protestant 
Christians have gone to teach the Bible as they be- 
lieve it and live it. Among these we should find the 
answer to our question. If we inquire of the states- 
men who have been regarded as among the noblest 
of modern times, we have John Quincy Adams de- 
claring, "In whatever light we view the Bible, 
whether with reference to revelation, or history, or 
morality, it is a mine of knowledge, like which none 

other has ever been found in any land 
uteso? 1 *" or an y rea l m -" Daniel Webster rev- 

leading erently affirms, "The sacred writings 

have been my daily study and vigilant 
contemplation. If we abide by the principles taught 
in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and 
to prosper." General Grant, when President of the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 105 

United States, wrote these words: "Hold fast to 
the Bible as the sheet anchor of our liberties. Write 
its precepts on your hearts and practice them in your 
lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted 
for the progress made in true civilization, and to 
this we must look as our guide in the future." Mr. 
Gladstone, "the greatest citizen of the nineteenth 
century," wrote, in his book, entitled The Impreg- 
nable Bock of Holy Scripture, "The revelation of 
God not only illuminates, but binds. Like the cre- 
dentials of an earthy ambassador, it is just and neces- 
sary that the credentials of that revelation should be 
tested. But if it be found genuine, if we have proofs 
of its being genuine equal to those of which, in the 
ordinary concerns of life, reason acknowledges the 
obligatory character, then we find ourselves to be not 
independent beings engaged in an optional inquiry, 
but the servants of a Master, the pupils of a Teacher, 
the children of a Father, and each of us already 
bound with the bonds which those relations imply. 
Then head and knee must bow before the Eternal, 
and the Divine will must be embraced and followed 
by man with all his heart, with all his mind, with 
all his soul, and with all his strength." 

If we turn to the greatest scientists, we must recall 
the words of Lord Kelvin, whose Christian faith is 
well known. Sir John Herschel wrote : "All human 
discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of 
confirming more and more strongly the truths con- 



106 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

tained in the sacred Scripture." We may pass such 

names as Newton, Agassiz, Linnseus, 

mon^of 1 " LeConte and Dana, to note the testi- 

eminent mony of Charles Darwin, one of the 

scientists. 

most candid of students. When Darwin 

visited Terra Del Fuego in 1833, he wrote: "The 
Fugians are in a more miserable state of barbarism 
than I ever expected to see any human being." He 
thought it would be impossible to civilize them. 
Protestant Christians took the Bible there, taught it, 
and lived its precepts. Darwin visited it again in 
1869. His astonishment was great to find those peo- 
ple, whose condition he thought hopeless, transformed 
into Christian men and women. He wrote to the 
London Missionary Society, enclosing twenty-five 
pounds for its work, and said: "I shall feel proud 
if your Committee shall think fit to elect me an hon- 
orary member of your Society. I certainly should 
have predicted that not all the missionaries in the 
world could have done what has been done. It is 
wonderful, and it shames me, as I always prophesied 
failure." Gladly Mr. Darwin acknowledged the 
proof of the power of the Bible to transform and 
elevate mankind. 

When we turn to ask some of the greatest of mod- 
ern philosophers as to their judgment, we have the re- 
ply of Immanuel Kant, saying, "You do well in that 
you base your peace and piety on the Gospels, for in 
the Gospels, in the Gospels alone, is the source of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 107 

deep spiritual truths, after reason has measured out 

its whole territory in vain." John Locke said: "To 

give a man a full knowledge of true morality, I 

should need to send him to no other 

book than the New Testament." Sir ^ e ^ ach ' 

William Jones declares that "in the great phi- 

. losophers. 

Bible are more true sublimity, more 

exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important 
history than can be collected from all other books, in 
whatever age or language they may have been writ- 
ten." Principal Caird leads us to realize the purpose 
of the Bible, as well as its character, when he says : 
"The Spirit of God in the sacred narrative is in- 
structing us concerning the principles of the divine 
government — the inherent might of right, the irre- 
sistible prevalence in the long run of good over evil, 
the tendency of selfishness and wrong to sap the vi- 
tality and undermine the fair prosperity of nations. 
But these are principles which are not simply au- 
thoritatively announced in the pages of that narra- 
tive, but are woven into the life of humanity." 

If we turn to the great lights in the world of litera- 
ture, we find the Bible quoted in every play of 
Shakespeare, furnishing all his greatest themes to 
Milton, inspiring the highest conceptions of Words- 
worth, and the very soul of Tennyson's triumphant 
philosophy of life. Goethe said: "Let the world 
progress as much as it likes ; let all branches of hu- 
man research develop to the very utmost; nothing 



108 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

Th . will take the place of the Bible." Cole- 

ness of ridge said : "I know the Bible is in- 

literary spired because it finds me at greater 

genius. depths of my being than any other 

book." Walter Scott asked Lockhart to bring him 
"the book." Upon being asked which book, he re- 
plied: " There is but one book." Lowell's defenses 
of the Bible are familiar to the general reader. Ham- 
ilton Mabie has recently said "the Bible remains, and 
must remain, the greatest and most influential book 
we possess — the fundamental text-book of Western 
morals and philosophy of life." 

Such are some of the testimonies of the leaders of 
the world's life and thought, who are not distinctively 
the champions of religion, concerning the Bible. 
No college in the first rank today fails to give the 
Bible consideration in various parts of its Curricu- 
lum. A careful calculation has determined that 
three hundred millions of copies of the Bible are in 
use in the world, and every year an increasing num- 
ber is in demand. In the face of these facts and 
testimonies, any man who is superficial 
cuities in enough to dismiss the Bible from his at- 

the Bible tention, is not only unscientific, but is 

which . . 

have not unworthy of recognition as an intelli- 

bv^nteUi- & en ^ student of human life and history. 

gent stu- When we consider its place in the study 

dents. . . 

and life of the peoples of the leading 

nations of the earth today, in the full blaze of the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 109 

light of the 20th century, let us remember that in- 
creasing numbers of the strongest men of all nations 
are accepting the Bible as the record of the revela- 
tion of God to men, and as the one worthy rule of 
faith and life. Therefore when questions arise about 
the Bible, or difficulties are met in its study, these 
must always be approached as questions and diffi- 
culties which thousands of intelligent men have faced 
and answered with sincerity and satisfaction. That 
is to say, there are facts, throwing light upon all these 
difficulties, of such character as to compel the honest 
student to see that they are not hindrances to an in- 
telligent and scientific faith in the Bible as the record 
of the revelation of God to men. 

Let us note here a distinction of vital importance. 
There are some who have looked upon the Bible with 
the idea that it is a sort of artificial and unnatural 
thing, let down from heaven. Something like this 
is claimed for the Koran and for the 
Book of Mormon, but nothing of the The Bi D i e 

sort is in the minds of intelligent men not tne 

revelation 
regarding the Christian's Bible. God's of God; 

revelation of Himself is in nature and record e of 

in human history. "God having in old tne same. 

time spoken unto the fathers in the 

prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 

hath at the end of the days spoken unto us in His 

Son." (Heb. 1:1-2.) a In the beginning was the 

Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 

was God." "And the Word was made flesh (not 



110 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

paper and ink) and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father, full of grace and truth." (Jno. 1:1 and 
14. ) But see what this means. The Bible is not the 
revelation. It is the record of that revelation. "The 
Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in 
a book." (Ex. 17:14.) In the book of Job the 
revelation of God in nature is recorded in passages 
of marvelous sublimity in thought and language. 
Froude rightly declares that the book of Job "will 
be found at the last to tower above all the poetry of 
the world." The Old Testament records so much of 
God's revelation of His presence and power in his- 
tory as is connected with the life of the chosen peo- 
ple of Israel. It is the story of teaching by sign 
and type, by symbol and law, by discipline and by 
visions, all in the experiences of the people. The 
messages come through law-givers and prophets, by 
psalmists and wisdom teachers. The New Testament 
record gives the story of the life of Christ, and of 
the spread of the Christian Church, together with 
several apostolic letters and the apocalypse of John. 
Let the reader see clearly the difference between the 
revelation and the record of the same, and immedi- 
ately he is prepared to appreciate the first important 
fact about the book itself. 

The next step is to appreciate the plan and per- 
spective of the Bible. It is very important to re- 
member that the Bible is intended to give only so 
much of the history of man as is involved in the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. Ill 

story of God's purpose and work in redemption. This 
at once explains the fact that all matters external 
are only touched upon as they bear a relation to this 
work of redemption. The book of Genesis is the key 
to this plan. The first chapter sets forth the creation 
story, emphasizing the two facts that God, the Crea- 
tor, is a Spirit, and that man, the crown of creation, 
is made in the image of God. The second chapter 
is not so much a repetition of the creation story, but 
rather indicates that man is the creature with whom 
we have to deal. There follows the ac- 
count of the entrance of sin, and the the Bible 
beginnings of the purpose and work of storyo? 16 
redemption. Quickly the record hastens redemp- 
to the statement concerning the judg- 
ment of the race at the time of the flood, and then to 
the choice of one man, who alone seemed to realize 
the truth about God, and to give promise of faith 
necessary to a turning of men to God. It is most in- 
structive to note how the record narrows down to the 
time of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, at which 
time the history of the chosen people, as a nation, 
begins. All the rest of the Old Testament is the 
record of God's dealings with Israel, both directly, 
and indirectly, through other nations. The whole de- 
velopment of the history is to show how the hope of 
the people was cultivated in God's promise of a com- 
ing Savior, who would fulfil the work of redemption 
thus being carried on. The JSTew Testament intro- 
duces the Savior in the Gospel-record, and the story 



112 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of the work of His Spirit and His followers, as the 
fruits of His life and death were appreciated and 
appropriated by the early Church which He estab- 
lished. This story of God's work of redemption 
should ever be kept in mind as the explanation of 
the character of the Bible. 

With this plan in mind, we are prepared to ap- 
preciate the true perspective of the Bible. All the 
Old Testament points forward to the Christ. All 
the New Testament centers in His first coming to 
the earth, and points forward to the consummation 
of the redemption in Him, His coming again, and 
His reign in glory. Christ therefore determines the 
true perspective of the record from first to last. This 
fact cannot be too earnestly emphasized. We have 
noted that the Bible itself is not the revelation of 
God, but the record of that revelation. It is a price- 
less record, but only a record. The revelation has 
been made in various ways, all working out through 
the experiences of human life, and its fulness is in 
Jesus Christ. A strange idea has come 
perspec- into traditional thought that the Bible 

S^if ™ e is the only foundation of the Christian 
Bible cen- •> 

ters in faith. But the Bible does not so teach. 

"Other foundation can no man lay than 
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 3 : 11.) 
Christ Himself said: "I am the truth." (John 
14 : 6. ) Dr. Munroe Gibson is clearly correct in the 
statement that "Not the Bible, but Christ Himself, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 113 

the personal historical Christ, is the ultimate founda- 
tion on which the entire system of Christianity rests." 
The Bible itself, as the record of God's revelation, 
rests upon the revelation, and the living Christ is 
the fulness of that revelation. We do not detract 
from the value of the Bible, but rather do we strip 
from it some burdens which men have laid upon it, 
and we are enabled to understand its character in 
clearer light. 

As soon as this true perspective of the Bible is 
clearly seen, we have a point of advantage in our 
position regarding many difficulties connected with 
the Old Testament. It is absurd to explain anything 
in the Old Testament in any other way than by its 
relation to the development of the people of Israel 
up to the time of Christ. The true perspective en- 
ables us to find light shining upon all these points, 
which would otherwise be dark. Christ alone has 
taught us how to understand the Old Testament. He 
has pointed out two kinds of material therein, first 
that which is eternal in its truth, and then that which 
was temporary, educational, progressive, destined to 

lose its authority for men, because 

1.1 i i • i ™ • ^ This P ei> 

higher standards, given by Christ spective 

Himself, were to take their place. He uSJTupon 
said to the people: "Ye have heard many dif- 
that it was said to them of old time, 
etc., . . . but I say unto you, etc." In sev- 
eral instances (Matt. 5th chapter) He lifts up the 



114 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

standard. Then he proceeds to explain why God 
allowed lower moral standards in the earlier times. 
They brought to Him a question as to the law of 
divorce, and He answered: "For your hardness of 
heart he (Moses) wrote you this commandment." 
We shall consider a moment later this whole prob- 
lem of the education of Israel from the point of view 
of the science of pedagogy; but just here we must 
see the necessity of keeping the Bible perspective 
centering in Christ and in Christ alone. Let the be- 
liever never forget that his faith is first of all and 
always in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let no man turn 
him away from Christ to some point of difficulty in 
the Old Testament. We believe the Bible because it 
is all made clear in its relation to Christ. Insist that 
the questioner shall begin with Christ first, settle the 
matter of his relation to Christ first, and then he will 
be ready to consider any other matters of inquiry. 
Our next logical consideration must be concerning 
the historic reliability of the Bible record. As Mr. 
Gladstone has said, this is a necessary inquiry on 
the part of intelligent men. But let us understand 
that our question has to do with the record itself, 
and not with various related matters. The main ques- 
tion is — Have we sufficient evidence to prove that the 
narrative concerning the history of the people of 
Israel is reliably historic? And have we sufficient 
evidence to prove that the historic material of the 
New Testament furnishes us a reliable record of the 
man Christ Jesus, and His followers in the begin- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 115 

nings of the Christian church % If we can prove the 
record to be thus reliable as history, 
other matters may be considered as of The his " 
secondary importance. There may be ability of 
some points which present difficulties record. 
to the mind of an inquirer, but if the 
main narrative is historical beyond a doubt, we have 
actual history with which to deal in our study. Men 
have added some features to our present form of 
the record which were not in the original manu- 
scripts. For instance, there are no dates in the book 
of Genesis. Men have assumed to make their own 
chronology and have put it into the margin of our 
editions of the Bible. They have sometimes added 
to the titles of different books, without any authority 
to do so from the record. For instance the books of 
Pentateuch are called "The First Book of Moses," 
"The Second Book of Moses," etc. The Song of Solo- 
mon is described as a dialogue between Christ and 
His Church. ~No such statement is warranted by the 
record. The Epistle to the Hebrews was attributed 
by the King James translators to the Apostle Paul. 
The epistle does not justify the inference, and schol- 
arship quite generally agrees that the evidence is 
against the view. All such extra-scriptural material 
must be left out of our inquiry. But many do not 
know that these items are not to be reckoned with, 
and thus they often cause perplexity. 

Let us also see that the historic reliability of the 
record is- something quite apart from any theory of 



116 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

inspiration. All the sacred writings of different re- 
ligions claim to be inspired. We cannot argue from 
a theory of inspiration to prove the reliability of 
the record; but we must study the character of the 
record in order to discover the reasonableness of be- 
lieving there has been a divine influence working in 
and through the men who made the record, or in 
those of whom they wrote. President 

Inspira- Patton, of Princeton, has truly said: 

tionnot 9 . J 

involved "The Christian apologist cannot meet 

reliability. infidel objections by assuming the doc- 
trine of inspiration. While the ques- 
tion of historical credibility is at issue, the battle 
must be fought on the ground of historical evidence. 

. . Historical criticism places the Bible on 
a level with the most reliable human histories. Ordi- 
nary historical evidence is sufficient to satisfy us with 
regard to the truthfulness of statements which we 
find in the writings of Tacitus, Caesar, Grote, Gibbon 
and Macaulay. We do not insist upon inspiration 
on the part of these authors as a guarantee of their 
credibility. Their books may contain errors. In- 
stances of false reasoning, hasty generalization, in- 
correct judgment may occur in their pages, but of 
their general truthfulness we have no doubt." 

There are two lines of evidence to prove the historic 
reliability of any document, internal and external. 
From its internal character one may fairly judge 
of its sincerity of purpose and genuineness of state- 
ment. The consistency of its parts, the quality of 



V 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 117 

its teachings, the results which follow the practice of 
its precepts, these are all evidences of the trustworthi- 
ness of the contents. External evidence proves the 
existence of the people and events described by other 
records which corroborate and illuminate the docu- 
ment. For example, the histories of Egypt and Baby- 
lon have given us much light on the historic accuracy 
of the Old Testament record. Such a monumental 
work as Dr. Thompson's The Land and The Booh is 
of inestimable value. In it he has shown how the 
geography involved and the natural features of the 
countries mentioned in the history of Israel all go 
to prove the accuracy of the story of the chosen peo- 
ple. The Egyptology of the Pentateuch is so exact 
as to astonish specialists today. Dr. Brugsch Bey 
has said that the story of Joseph is so accurate it 
might have been copied from Egyptian monuments. 

Almost every year ancient records are 

i.i i • ^ n The Ms- 

brought to light which confirm some toric reli- 
st atement of the Old Testament which l™^* 
the scholars supposed to be a mistake. Testa- 
One of the most familiar is that with 
reference to the location of Ur of the Chaldees. 
Scholars knew of only one Ur, and it was at Oorfah, 
six hundred miles away from Chaldea. So they said 
the Bible must be mistaken. But Lenormant and 
Smith have identified Mughier as the site of the 
home of Terah and Abraham. The scholars were 
wrong because they did not have the facts in hand. 
When the facts came to light, the Scriptures proved 



118 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

to be exactly correct. The more light men bring to 
bear upon the Old Testament, the more certain be- 
comes the accuracy of its historic statements. 

The same thing is true of the Eew Testament. 
The Christian Church is here, as are the Jewish 
people. The history of Christianity has been traced 
up the stream to its fountain head, bringing the Gos- 
pel material into the first century, and some of the 
letters of Paul to a time within twenty-five years 
of the life of Christ. Our acknowledged material 
takes us to a time where we are nearer to the historic 
Jesus of Nazareth than we now are to Abraham Lin- 
coln. John Stuart Mill was not a be- 
toric reli- liever in the inspiration of the Scrip- 
theNew tures, but he made an earnest study of 

Testa- the evidence regarding the historic 

Christ. As a result of that study he 
wrote, "whatever else may be taken away by rational 
criticism, Christ is still left; a unique figure, not 
more unlike all his precursors than all his followers, 
even those who had the direct benefit of his personal 
teaching. " Then he makes the most significant state- 
ment that even to a skeptic it remains a possibility 
that Christ actually was "a man charged with a 
special, express, and unique commission from God." 
When writing his Life of Jesus, Kenan visited Pal- 
estine, touching every important point mentioned in 
the Gospel record, and wrote: "All that history, 
which at a distance seems to float in the clouds of an 
unreal world, thus took a form, a solidity, which 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 119 

astonished me. The striking agreement of the texts 
with the places, the marvelous harmony of the Gos- 
pel ideal with the country which served it as a frame- 
work, were like a revelation to me. I had before my 
eyes a fifth Gospel, torn, but legible still and hence- 
forward, through the recitals of Matthew and Mark, 
in place of an abstract being, whose existence might 
have been doubted, I saw living and moving an ad- 
mirable human figure." 

The general reliability of the Bible record is there- 
for established by competent scholarship. In the light 
of this fact, we may here say a word about the dis- 
crepancies which occur. There are some such dis- 
crepancies. But nowhere are they of such character 
as to affect the general reliability of the record. An 
early manuscript shows a comment written on the 
margin, and a later copy shows this comment em- 
bodied in the text, evidently indicating that the copy- 
ist thought it belonged in the original text. Figures 
are sometimes contradictory. Figures are most liable 
to get mixed. It must be remembered that many 
copies of a manuscript were often made at the same 
time by several men, one reading to all 
the company. Thus words were incor- natlonof*" 
rectly copied at times. It is no longer discrepan- 
questioned that the great mass of the 
material is correct. But that justifies the opinion 
that any discrepancies which now appear came in 
through incorrect work on the part of copyists. Some 
men have imagined they discovered discrepancies be- 



120 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

tween two parts of Scripture, which proved to be 
harmonious on closer study. The fact remains that 
this subject is not of sufficient importance to demand 
a lengthy discussion. The Bible has been in the 
hands of men, and the wonder is that its human copy- 
ists and keepers have kept it so free from corruption 
that no important difference occurs in all the manu- 
scripts in existence on any great teaching or state- 
ment of historic occurrence. 

A particular feature of this subject is of such im- 
portance as to justify special consideration. This is 
the existence of four Gospel records. Some men have 
made much of the fact that these different records do 
not agree in every detail. Let it be remembered that 
the spread of Christianity was from the three centers 
of Jerusalem, Antioch and Home, where the Gospel 
was preached to the Jews, the Greeks, and the 
Romans. This preaching had been carried on for a 
long time when the Gospel records were written. 
Naturally the apostles and evangelists would present 
the truth as it would be best adapted to the people 
whom they addressed. Matthew has given us the 
record of the way the Gospel was preached to the 
Jews. Its great feature is its emphasis upon the ful- 
filment of prophecy. Matthew contains no explana- 
tion of Hebrew words, or Jewish customs or places, 
while all the other three Gospels do contain these. 
Mark gives us the record of the way the Gospel was 
presented to the Eomans. Its keynote is power. It 
has less of the teachings of Christ than the others. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 121 

It is only in Mark that the Koman cen- 
turion is recorded as saying, at the Theindi- 
cross, "Truly this man was the son of character 
God !" Luke's Gospel is the record of Gospels U 
the way it was preached to the Greeks. 
Its dominant tone shows Christ as He would appeal 
to the broader humanities of the Greeks. Divide 
Luke into one hundred parts, and only forty-one 
parts are in common with the other Gospels. It was 
never intended that these Gospels should agree in all 
details. They all tell the same story, but in a dif- 
ferent way, and some introduce facts and teachings 
which others omit. John presents a supplementary 
Gospel which involves the spiritual, rather than the 
historic significance of the life and teachings of 
Christ. 

Within the last century some questions have arisen 
regarding the harmony of the Scripture record with 
the teachings of physical science. It has been noted 
that the Bible is not primarily concerned about teach- 
ing science. A book written over three thousand 
years ago would not be expected to contain the scien- 
tific teachings of the nineteenth century. Such 
teachings at that early day would have been dis- 
credited. Yet if it be a record of God's revelation, 
all its teachings should be harmonious with all sub- 
sequent truth in the great principles set forth. Later 
details in discovery may elaborate the knowledge, 
but a general agreement should exist. This is ex- 
actly what we find. We are told that God "created 



122 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the heavens and the earth." Long years after, Ptol- 

omey would have said "the earth and the heavens" ; 

but the Bible accords with modern science here. Then 

the first chapter of Genesis presents the order of 

creation as progressing from the lowest 

The Bible forms to the highest. Vegetation first 

in harmo- ° ° 

ny with appears, then the simplest forms of life, 

science. birds and fishes, and finally the mam- 

mals, last of whom is man. Modern 
science makes us wonder if it could have been pos- 
sible for mere human knowledge at that far off time 
to have been in such marvelous harmony with the 
general order of creation as we know it today. The 
Bible represents the sun as rising and setting, just 
as we do. These popular notions are in the record 
as naturally as they are in writings of our time. 
Prof. Dana, of Yale University, declared that this 
marvelous harmony of the record in Genesis with 
the teaching of modern science convinced him that 
no man could have written it at that early day with- 
out divine illumination. The matter of the time 
involved in creation has often been discussed; but 
Genesis 2 : 4 uses the term "day" to cover the whole 
period of time involved in the creation. There is 
no teaching as to days of twenty-four hours. The 
record mentions three days before any measure of 
time is suggested. Both Old and New Testament 
teach that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand 
years." The Bible is broad in its lines of adjust- 
ment. It holds its place in the light of the twentieth 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 123 

century in general harmony with the teachings of all 
truth found anywhere and everywhere. 

Another source of occasional difficulty is the ques- 
tion as to how much of the Bible is figurative or 
parabolic, especially in the realm where it might be 
supposed that tradition would furnish some of its 
material. ~No man with ordinary judgment can read 
the Scriptures without realizing that much of the 
record is pictorial and symbolic. The Bible is full 
of figures and parables. But let no man suppose 
that this fact detracts from the reality of the truth 
taught in this form. For instance, consider the 
much mooted question of the "historic Adam," and 
the problem of moral responsibility. The story in 
Genesis is manifestly presented in the setting of an 
allegory. The phrase "the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil" is figurative beyond a doubt. But that 
does not do away with the fact of man's 
moral struggle. That struggle was a foSs*^ 6 
mighty reality. Whether man came up teaching 
to that struggle through a process of the reality 
evolution, or faced it without such a truth 6 
slow approach, has nothing to do with 
the fact. There came a day when the first man, with 
a moral consciousness quickened to realize right and 
wrong, faced the responsibility of a free moral agent 
to choose between the way of obedience and life and 
disobedience and death. The figurative manner of 
telling the story only makes the fact vivid. The 
word "adam" is the Hebrew word for "man." There 



124 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

was beyond doubt a "historic Adam" ; but we are not 
concerned about the time of his appearing upon earth, 
nor the figurative form of the record of his moral 
struggle. The tremendous fact which is recorded is 
what concerns us. The story in Genesis did not 
make man a sinner. It is there because man is a 
sinner, and because that fact must be related to the 
whole story of redemption from sin. 

We are now prepared to consider those questions 
which have arisen concerning the moral teachings of 
the Old Testament. We have noted the reason which 
Christ gave for the lower moral standards which were 
allowed at the earlier time of Israel's development. 
The science of pedagogy insists that all teaching must 
be adapted to the capacities and limitations of the 
persons taught. When Israel came out of Egypt, the 
people were ignorant slaves, with the low moral 
standards of their environment. Only a few leaders 
could teach them. We realize that if Mr. Darwin 
had tried to teach the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego 
his theories of natural selection, they would have been 
utterly unable to understand him. It 
mora i would have been just as impossible to 

*f th^ofd teach the Israelites the conceptions of 
Testament God which are necessary to the full de- 
velopment of the Christian character. 
There must be a gradual unfolding of the truth. The 
standard must be lifted slowly. Let us bring the 
matter down to our time, so that we may appreciate 
it more naturally. It is not yet fifty years since men 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 125 

believed that God considered slavery just and right. 
Nineteen centuries of Christian history have wit- 
nessed men with standards of life which they thought 
acceptable to God. We now believe God was never 
satisfied with the institution of slavery, and that the 
Bible is clear in its teaching as to the unrighteous- 
ness of slavery. The same men who believed slavery 
right a half century ago, now believe it wrong, and 
the Bible has become clear to them at this point, 
where it was not before. Now this is exactly an il- 
lustration of the way that God has been compelled to 
lead men upward. With infinite patience He has 
kept the light shining, and men have come to see it 
slowly. 

We must see that from the very beginning of the 
Bible times, God's revelation of His will to men 
has involved the great fundamental principles which 
inhere in His character. There is the truth that 
God is a Spirit and must be worshipped from the 
heart. There is the truth that God is holy, and that 
only as man is holy can he come into fellowship with 
God. It is made clear from the beginning that sin 
separates man from God, and that repentance be- 
cause of sin is necessary to restoration to fellowship 
with God. God's mercy waits to forgive the peni- 
tent. These great teachings are in the Bible from 
the very beginning. They will never be outgrown. 
Christ gives to them a fullness of light, but even 
now we are so slow to apply the teachings of Christ, 
and must know exactly the explanation which He 



126 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

gave regarding the hardness of men's hearts long 

ago. There are people today living under the full 

blaze of the light, whose conceptions of God are as 

far from the truth, as were those of Israel centuries 

long past. The secret of the progress 

Men have f the race in spiritual insight and 

learned ... . 

slowly to moral conviction is the spirit of obedi- 

obeyGoof ence * ^°^ con( lemns much in the life 
of Israel, but always expresses pleas- 
ure in the spirit of obedience which they revealed. 
He ever commends this, but never suggests that He 
is satisfied with the standard they have attained. 
A few men grasped the great principles, and stand 
out in the history of the race because of that fact. 
Enoch, Abraham, Joseph and Moses compare well 
with Paul and John, with Luther and Livingstone 
in the quality of their character. But they were 
ahead of their times then, as these great Christians 
have also been. The secret of moral progress has 
therefore been in the fact that man has steadily come 
to understand God better, and to desire to obey God's 
will, in order that he might come to righteousness 
in character and fellowship with God. In the light 
of these facts difficulties regarding a lower level of 
morals in earlier times melt away. 

In the next chapter the subject of miracles is dis- 
cussed. It remains to emphasize a great fact which 
is in danger of being overlooked in the consideration 
of so many details as have held our attention in this 
chapter. That fact which needs clear appreciation 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 127 

is that the Old Testament reveals a spiritual atmos- 
phere which lifts it far above the sacred writings 
of any other religion, and makes it a fitting ap- 
proach to the fullness of the truth which is set 
forth in the ISTew Testament. Some people are in 
danger of under-rating the spiritual power of the 
Scriptures which made up Christ's Bible, and which 
formed the record of God's leadings of men up to 
the fulness of times, when the Messiah 
appeared. For instance, if we were to The spirit- 
study the prayers of the Old Testa- phore^? 8 " 

ment, we would be amazed to discover U e old 

' . Testa- 

how much they reveal of apprecia- ment. 

tion of the loftiest conceptions of 
God. A few of the imprecations breathe the 
war-like atmosphere of their time; but nearly 
all these prayers, from Abraham to Nehemiah, 
reveal a prayer-life which may well be emu- 
lated by ourselves. There is nothing in all Grecian 
literature that touches even the lowest round of these 
spiritual ideas. Roman and Persian literature is 
even more lacking in this unique atmosphere. There 
are aspirations of a lofty character in the Yedas 
and the Zendavesta ; but no conception of a personal 
communion with God, breathing the confidence of 
His guidance and the trust in His power. The ex- 
alted visions of the prophets and their teachings con- 
cerning the requirements of God on the part of men, 
to turn from their sin, to obey with cheerful hearts, 
to trust His promises of a coming Messiah, all these 



128 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

reveal a quality of character in Old Testament times 
that produced as its ultimate flower a Simeon, who 
waited with a beautiful expectation from God, and 
who is described as "just and devout, waiting for 
the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was 
upon him." (Luke 2:25-26.) "And it was re- 
vealed unto him that he should not see death until 
he had seen the Lord's Christ." 

For while the Old Testament had developed such 
realities in spiritual life among the people of God, 
as to justify the statement that "salvation is of the 
Jews," that salvation was to be revealed in a ful- 
ness of truth and life, such as had not yet been 
given. God was to reveal Llimself in Jesus Christ, 
according to the Scriptures, in the fulfillment of 
promise, in the realization of type and symbol, in 
the life of a man among men. It is in the New 
Testament record that we find, for the first time in 
human history the words, "The Word was made 
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full 
of grace and truth." All revelation thus far had 
been partial and inadequate, because men had not 
been able to take its fullness. We shall 

The New study this revelation in Christ in a 

Testament J 

records succeeding chapter. Let us at this 

the full- point emphasize the fact that it is His 

ness of the wonderful life which explains the won- 
truth. r 

derful character of the record which 

portrays it to men. The Gospels do not describe 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 129 

Christ : they portray Him. We are not told that His 
teachings and deeds were grand and splendid; but 
the writers simply record what he said and did, and 
we see for ourselves the surpassing nature of the 
revelation of character which they portray. It is 
because of the character of the Incarnate Word that 
the written Word has such power. It leads into an 
atmosphere where men feel the consciousness of God 
expressed in terms of the daily life. 

It is in this Bible that we find the perfection of 
that character which men have lost revealed again. 
But, more, we find therein the truth which opens the 
way whereby men may be redeemed from sin and 
enabled to live that character in its strength and 
beauty, through the mighty power of God our 
Father in the heavens. This Bible carries the light 
of life into the darkness, and men everywhere find 
it to be a fountain of healing for human ills, bread 
for the hungry soul, comfort for the sorrowing heart, 
strength for the weary spirit, grace for 
the sin-sick life, and the herald of a The facts 
glorious hope of everlasting life. The prove the 
teachings of the Bible satisfy the deep- c uf o?the" 
est needs of the human soul, the loftiest Bible as 
aspirations, the noblest ambitions of of life. 
the greatest men of all the centuries. 
Wherever it is given its place, it touches everything 
with transforming power, just as Mr. Darwin testi- 
fied to its doing in Terra del Fuego. Where the 
Bible is the rule of faith and life for men, righte- 
i 



130 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ousness is exalted as the mark of true character and 
the only measure of real success in human life. A 
Father's love shines through its pages with increasing 
brightness, and as men study these pages the power 
of that love takes possession of human hearts and 
wills and hands, until the love of God for men 
quickens the returning love of men for God, and the 
consequent love of man for his fellow. This is the 
book of which Thomas Carlyle said : "It is the one 
book wherein, for thousands of years, the spirit of 
man has found light and nourishment, and the re- 
sponse to whatever was deepest in his heart." In 
every land and among all conditions of men it has 
proved to be the record of that revelation of God 
which is sufficient to lead men to the highest and best 
in the earthly life, and to await with confident peace 
and trust the life beyond. 

It is as the reader studies his Bible in the light 
of these facts that he will discover the one remain- 
ing fact which must be mentioned here. He will dis- 
cover that this book reveals the touch of the mighty 
God upon the lives of men, and that it is inspired 
beyond that which men alone could have produced. 
How shall we explain those Old Testament concep- 
tions which rise so far above the pagan darkness of 
the times and the people about them ? Only by real- 
izing that the divine illumination was given to them. 
How shall we explain the extraordinary history of 
Israel as a peculiar people through the centuries? 
Only by realizing that God was revealing Himself to 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN THE BIBLE. 131 

them through a spiritual worship and devotion such 
as no other nation on earth possessed. How shall we 
explain the messages of prophets who declared them- 
selves to be constrained to give those messages by a 
power that welled up within them, like a fountain, 
until they were conscious of being the messengers of 
God, and not merely the human teachers of their 
day? Only by realizing that there were men all 
along in Israel who waited for a vision of God, long- 
ing to help their people in the pathway of the truth, 
to whom God spake by His Spirit with quickening 
power. How shall we explain the transcendent 
teachings of the New Testament, matchless as pre- 
cepts for this life, and joyous with hope for the life 
to come, unfolding such a vision of fel- 
lowship with God as has led men into inspired 
the innermost sanctuary of spiritual by -*t^>f 
power, until they too, like the prophets the living 
of old, have realized the truth of the 
words of Coleridge, "I know the Bible is inspired 
because it finds me at greater depths of my being 
than any other book" ? Let the reader appreciate 
the actual character of the facts herein presented. 
Let him take the teachings into his own life and test 
their claims. Let him remember Christ as the center 
of the true perspective of it all. Let him remember 
that it is this same Christ who is the world's special- 
ist in character, a character such as every honest man 
desires to possess. Let him note the testimony of 
the best men and women through the ages, not only 



132 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

by word, but by life as well, as to the mighty power 
of God which touches them through the message of 
this book. Then it will no longer be necessary to 
argue that the Bible is inspired, for he will know 
it as he knows that the atmosphere which he breathes 
is quickened with life. 



THE 
SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 



133 



VI. 
THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IX MIKACLES. 

One of the most serious difficulties for many peo- 
ple in the way of a genuine faith in the Bible, and 
in religion itself, is the place which is claimed for 
what we call miracles in the Scripture record. In- 
deed there are earnest Christians who incline to the 
opinion that it is just as well to relegate the subject 
to obscurity as much as possible. But it is impos- 
sible to evade the discussion, for the fact of the 
miracle is inextricably intertwined through the whole 
record. Therefore, while the miracle may be con- 
sidered by some as having no apologetic value, the 
Christian must show the validity, nay 

the necessity of its place in the earlier Thescript- 

t, , T . „ .... . ures teach 

times of the race. It is tolly to ignore that mira- 

the discussion, especially since the curred" 

scientific study of the subject justifies 

the belief in the miracle as actually necessary to the 

best teaching of the truth in the Bible. It will be 

helpful to think of miracles as signs of the presence 

and power of God ; for we are not to think so much 

of the signs themselves, as of the fact that they were 

intended to point the people to God. 

The stock argument of Hume against the possi- 

135 



136 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

bility of a miracle is still urged by some present day 
skeptics. Hume argued that we could not believe it 
possible for a miracle to Have occurred because it 
would have been contrary to the then existing nature, 
and because nothing in nature could explain its ap- 
pearance. But Hume had not the teaching of 
modern science to throw light upon his problem. 
Science teaches us there was a time in the history 
of this earth when there was no life 
argument upon it. Life must have come in one 

thecredi- °^ * w0 wa ^ s ? e ^ ner D y spontaneous gen- 
biiityof eration, or by special creation. But, 

after years of most careful investiga- 
tion, science positively teaches that it is impossible 
to believe that life came into existence by spontane- 
ous generation, and that we must believe that all life 
known to man came from antecedent life. Therefore 
science compels men to believe that life appeared by 
special creation. But that was a miracle. Nothing 
in the then-existing nature could explain the appear- 
ance of life. It was supernatural. But Hume was 
greatly mistaken in supposing that because it was 
supernatural it would be contrary to nature. In- 
stead of that, it harmonized with it perfectly. 

The same thing is true of human personality, with 
its freedom of will, and its moral quality involving 
character. We recall the striking statement of Lord 
Kelvin that "every action of free will is a miracle to 
physical science." There was absolutely nothing in 
the then-existing nature to explain the activity of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 137 

the first creature that directed its own motion by an 
act of conscious will. Human personality cannot be 
explained by anything in nature before its appear- 
ance. The only being in all creation who knows the 
meaning of righteousness, who hungers after right- 
eousness, and whom nothing but righteousness can 
satisfy is man. Thus we are compelled 

by the teachings of modern science to Life and , 
. ° personal- 

believe that miracles have actually oc- itywere 

curred, and yet were not contrary to turaL™ 1 " 
nature; but adjusted themselves to 
nature both harmoniously and helpfully. If this has 
occurred in the realms of life and personality, the 
suggestion that it might occur in the moral realm 
would be exactly consistent with what science com- 
pels us to believe. That which was vitally mistaken 
in the attitude of Hume and his followers was their 
deistic, mechanical idea of God in His relation to 
nature. The moment we take the modern scientific 
point of view, and realize that God is immanent in 
all nature, and that He is our loving Father, the 
whole problem is entirely cleared from many of the 
old difficulties. 

The advance of science has vastly enlarged our 
conception of what is possible in the order of nature. 
So many new facts and phenomena have appeared 
which men would have thought impossible, without 
disturbing the uniformity of Nature's laws, that we 
are now saying "nothing is impossible." We simply 
understand nature better. It is evident that the 



138 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

Scripture writers were in full accord with modern 

science in the conviction that nature is in the hands 

of God, and they looked past secondary causes to 

the divine cause Himself, thus manifesting His 

presence and power. Consider what is meant by a 

departure from nature. It is to produce something 

which nature left to itself would not produce. If 

such departure from nature be a miracle, they are 

thick all about us. " Artificial cultiva- 

Man's free tion " doing what nature alone can- 
will active , . , . 
in depart- not do, is achieving much on every 

nature. m s ^ e# -But this assumes that when we 

speak of nature, we refer to nature be- 
low man. It is man's free will that is doing all 
these special things. Consider such facts as the cul- 
tivation of fruits and flowers, which if left to them- 
selves would quickly retrograde to the simple form 
of the original. All roses would revert to the unpre- 
tentious rose of the field, and the orchids would dis- 
appear, as well as the chrysanthemums. So all the 
varieties of pigeons would disappear, and revert to 
the plain blue-rock species. It is the free will of 
man performing what Lord Kelvin calls "miracles" 
in doing that which nature left to itself could 
never do. 

But evidently we must think of the immanent God 
as moving through nature with far greater freedom 
and power than men can have. Human experience 
gives us a scientific conception of the freedom of in- 
terference, the possibility of hastening the action of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 139 

law, or doing anything that will accomplish a de- 
sirable end. Science is opposed to the belief in 
chance, but not to the recognition of the power of 
intervention by an intelligent will in nature. Such 
intervention is taking place every day. 
The old deistic view put the physical dom of in- 
above the spiritual. The new view of ^J^ter* 011 
the Fatherhood of God puts the spir- than that 
itual above the physical, and considers 
all the forces in the material world as intended to 
subserve the spiritual welfare of man. If, therefore, 
any single truth is made clearer thereby, or a single 
immortal soul is to be helped thereby, then the 
miracle is worth while, and God is vindicated in its 
presence in human affairs. We therefore turn to 
consider the reasons for believing that God did mani- 
fest His presence and power to men at times in this 
supernatural way. 

Let us remember the character of the people of 
the times referred to in the Scripture record. We 
have noted that the masses were ignorant and un- 
disciplined. The multitudes in Israel came to hear 
the law read by a few who were able to instruct 
them in the same. We must agree that the revela- 
tion of truth to such people must be by methods 
adapted to their capacity and limita- 
tions. lne science oi .Pedagogy ever ence f 
insists upon this. But modern peda- Pedagogy 
gogy has emphasized the surpassing object les- 
importance of the object lesson in the 



140 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

teaching of the child. Let us remember that revela- 
tion is teaching. It is not remarkable that God 
would teach according to the best possible method. 
And that would necessitate the use of the object les- 
son in teaching the people concerning His presence 
and power in their lives. Now this was exactly the 
divine method, according to the Bible. The science 
of pedagogy instantly declares there could have been 
no other method comparable to this for teaching the 
people of that time. It was the Kindergarten age 
of the race. The miracle was not apologetic so much 
as pedagogical. It was to illuminate the truth rather 
than to prove it. 

Let us next note the consistent purpose of the 
miracle throughout the entire revelation of God con- 
nected with it in the Bible records. Its purpose was 
to authenticate the messenger of Jehovah by such 
manifestation of power as would convince the people 
that Jehovah was the true God, and mightier than 
the gods kfwhom they were trusting. Among be- 
lievers this same faith in God as the true God was 
to be strengthened by every manifesta- 
purpose of tion of the divine presence and power. 
cleiUus^" Consistently with this purpose, if the 

tratedin people to be convinced were supersti- 

tious, the science of pedagogy would 
unhesitatingly say the scientific method of teaching 
them would be to take their superstitions into ac- 
count when seeking to convince them that their gods 
were not worthy of their worship and obedience. Ac- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 141 

cordingly when Moses took his message to Egypt, the 
object lessons of the presence and power of God with 
him were manifestations against some of the idols 
of Egypt, from the river Mle to the insects of the 
land. It was by this method, thoroughly scientific, 
remembering that the Pharaoh of the exodns was a 
great believer in necromancy, that Israel, on the one 
hand, and Egypt on the other, were convinced that 
Jehovah was the true God. 

Likewise Elijahs' test of fire on Mt. Carmel is 
significant because Baal was the sun-god, and if Baal 
could not stand the test of fire, the conclusion was 
final. But most striking of all is the proof of this 
purpose in the story of Jonah. If Jonah be a parable, 
the case is more striking than if it be history. For 
if it be a parable, then the writer of the story under- 
stood the philosophy of the miracle so thoroughly 
that he realized there must be the 
manifestation of the power of Jehovah The cases 
over that of a great fish. For the great- an( j j Q nah. 
est god of the people of Emeveh was 
Dagon, the fish-god. Rawlinson informs us that the 
image of Dagon is found in the ruins of Nineveh 
three times as often as of any other image of a god. 
But that means that Jonah's message must be au- 
thenticated by a manifestation of power greater 
than that of Dagon. The story of Jonah gives this 
part of the account with careful detail. If it be 
only allegory, the fact that the writer understood 
so perfectly the requirement of the philosophy of 



142 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

miracle throughout the Scripture record, is one of 
the most striking commentaries upon the consistency 
of the purpose of the miracle, and the appreciation 
of that purpose on the part of the people. 

The whole subject of the miracle finds its highest 
illustration in Christ Himself, for He is the one con- 
tinuous miracle from beginning to end. He is pre- 
sented to us as the eternal Son of God, sent into the 
world to reveal the Father to men. He spoke the 
Father's words, did the Father's works, and revealed 
the Father's truth and power. He gave 

Christ Himself to the death of the cross, and 

himself 7 

the su- rose, from the grave the conqueror of 

miracle. death, ascending to the throne of God. 

The whole conception is above nature. 

Any particular exercise of power was simply a part 

of the continuous miracle which is Himself. As the 

Son of Man, He exhibited every phase of the natural 

humanity which we know ; but as the Son of God as 

well, He revealed the prerogatives of God to men. 

In the order of nature, and of scientific procedure, 

facts take precedence of the explanation of them. 

The explanations may or may not be possible. When 

the facts have been seen, they are the proper objects 

of testimony. If a dozen men cannot identify a man, 

with whom they have been for three years, after an 

absence of three days, then we have no more use 

for a system of courts. If they be men of character, 

their testimony stands the more surely. If they are 

ready to die for the truth of their testimony, we can 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 143 

no longer reasonably question their absolute sin- 
cerity. And since the mightiest system of truth 
known to mankind rests upon the fact to which they 
bear testimony, we readily understand why millions 
believe the fact, not simply because of the testimony 
of the first witnesses, but because of the power which 
the teaching based on the fact of the living Christ 
has revealed in the redemption of the race. 

But there is another side to the scientific belief in 
miracles as object lessons in connection with the 
revelation of God to men. Christ Himself, as the 
supreme miracle, realized the value of the scientific 
method of teaching when He said to His disciples: 
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Be- 
lieve me that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
me; or else believe me for the very works sake." 
(John 14: 9 and 11.) Christ put the truth in terms 
of life. Imagine a boy at school being asked to write 
a definition of a mother. When it was finished, 
though it might be all true, he would 

want to say: "Come home with me, Christ ia 
J ' the per- 
and I will show you a mother." This sonal ob- 
is the reality of the revelation of God revealing 

in Christ. The miracle of the incarna- God to 

man. 

tion is in exact accord with the scien- 
tific demand of modern pedagogy. Thus the plain 
fact emerges that the science of pedagogy insists that 
if God were to give to men the most effective revela- 
tion of Himself possible, if He were to adopt the 
most scientific method of teaching men the truth 



144 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

about His presence and power, He must use the mir- 
acle as a necessity in that teaching. No other method 
could have compared with this in effectiveness. 

Christ Himself was very clear in His teaching on 
this subject. The particular instance where He 
pointed out the purpose of the miracle is in connec- 
tion with the healing of the palsied man, to whom 
He said : "Thy sins be forgiven thee." (Mark 2 :3- 
12.) When some of the scribes counted His words 
blasphemy, because God only could forgive sins, 
Jesus stated the case. He asked whether it were 
easier to say to the palsied man that his sins were 
forgiven, or to say, "rise, take up thy bed and walk." 
Manifestly the first, which he had done, was easier 
to say, for no one could see whether the sins were 
forgiven, or not. But all could see if the man were 
given power to rise up and walk. Yet both of these 
manifestations of power were equally impossible for 
men, while they were equally easy for 

Christ's Q od> Then Christ pointed out that He 

teaching a r 

concern- would do the thing they could see in 

cies mira " order to justify their belief that He 

could also do the invisible thing as 

surely, saying "that ye may know that the Son of 

man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith 

to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, anjj 

<^ take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 

And immediately he arose, took up his bed, and went 

forth before them all; insomuch that they were all 

amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 145 

on this fashion." For the first time they realized that 
the purpose of the miracle was to point to the power 
of God to redeem men from sin. We have a further 
teaching in John 20 : 29, where Christ said to 
Thomas : "Because thou hast seen me, thou hast be- 
lieved; blessed are they that have not seen me, and 
yet have believed." Here we find a real value set 
upon the miracle as a help to faith; but the clear 
pointing forward to the time when men would not 
need the object lesson as they did in an earlier day. 
We have reached this higher level in Christian 
lands today. But let us not forget the need of the 
children of the kindergarten, because we have come 
up to a higher grade. The advance has not been 
rapid. The scientific attitude toward miracles is one 
of instant recognition of the fact that the science of 
pedagogy demands this method of teaching, as the 
best for that age. The Bible testifies to the use of 
it by the living God in His revelation of Himself to 
men. We have said the fact of the miracle is in- 
extricably intertwined with the record. This record 
gives us the history of the unfolding of the truth 
until we have its fulness in Christ. 

Even so does it lead us to see that the Th . e only 

scientific 

miracle has its complete embodiment attitude 
in Christ as the very fulness of the miracles. 
manifestation of the presence and. 
power of God among men. The consistency of the 
method as thoroughly scientific is apparent. We 
need no longer to apologize for the belief in miracles, 



146 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

Several of the sciences compel us to believe in them 
as not only possible and probable, but as actual, and 
necessary to the adequate revelation of God to men. 
The teaching of Christ regarding the miracle in 
connection with the forgiveness of sins, as revealing 
the power of God, reminds us that this miracle of 
grace is taking place every day, in every land. This 
is the most wonderful of all miracles, and we see it 
all about us in the realm of human character. We 
have seen men who were in the depths of despair be- 
cause of conscious slavery to sin, who had proved 
the utter helplessness of their own weakness to break 
the habits of sin which held them, touched by the 
power of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, until they 
were transformed. And these men have testified to 
the consciousness that a strength, not their own, kept 
them and delivered them from the power of sin. They 
have lived in the midst of those who beheld their 
transformation with a joyous wonder, as great as 
men ever felt in the presence of the 
tinuing 11 " healing of one born blind. It has often 

miracles been so marvellous as to make it well 

of grace. . . 

nigh impossible to believe that the new 

man in Christ was once in the lowest depths of sin. 

Historic cases like those of John Bunyan and John 

B. Gough can be duplicated by many thousands. 

They testify to the conscious certainty that it is the 

power of God, as revealed in Jesus Christ, which has 

wrought this miracle of grace. It is, therefore, not 

strange that men, with this experience of the reality 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN MIRACLES. 147 

of the wonderful salvation of God in their lives, 
should have no difficulty in counting it reasonable to 
believe that the miracles of healing, of mercy and of 
judgment, should have taken place, as recorded in 
the same book which points them to the divine grace 
which has delivered them from sin by this same 
power of our loving Father in the heavens. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHEIST. 



149 



VII. 
THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF m CHEIST. 

The introductory words of the Gospel according 
to John read thus : a In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 
... In Him was life and the life was the light of 
men. . . . And the Word was made flesh and dwelt 
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth." All the previous chapters have had constant 
reference to Christ as the central object of our faith. 
In many particulars they have been preparatory to 
this special study of His person and work. We will 
follow the four lines of thought suggested by John 
in 1:14, considering (1) The necessity for the in- 
carnation. "The life was the light of 
sionsin " men." (2) The deity of Christ. 
this chap- "The glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father:" The revelation of Son- 
ship. (3) The atonement by Christ. "The glory 
of the fulness of the divine love." The adoption 
into Sonship. (4) The redemption through Christ. 
"The glory of the fulness of the divine truth." 
The realization of Sonship. 

151 



152 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 



THE NECESSITY TOE THE INCAENATION". 

The incarnation of Jesus Christ was the appli- 
cation of a great law which was not unique in the 
Man of Nazareth. Its fullness of realization in 
Him was unique, but the law itself is one of uni- 
versal application in all development of human life. 
Its necessity underlies the revelation and apprecia- 
tion of all truth. That law is that every word must 
be made flesh, must come into the actual experiences 
of men, must be incarnate in lives which express the 

significance of the truth. Otherwise 
wordmust tne wor d goes unheard and unknown. 
be made The morning stars sang together 

through the ages, but no man heard 
their music, or understood their message. Men pon- 
dered their mysteries, and tried to spell out their 
meaning, but did not succeed. Ptolemy thought he 
had read the message, and for years men accepted 
his reading; but something was evidently lacking. 
At last Copernicus came, and in him the fullness 
of the truth about the stars was first made plain, in 
him the word of the stars was made flesh. Since 
Copernicus men have known the stars as they could 
not before. In like manner the flowers had a mes- 
sage which men did not understand. Eay and 
Thompson and Brunfels spelled out some of the 
letters, but not until Linnaeus came was the word of 
the flowers made flesh. Electricity flashed its message 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 153 

in the skies; but men saw only that which was to 
be dreaded, until one day Franklin caught a vision. 
Others have followed, and today Edison, Tesla and 
Marconi are giving us a fuller knowledge of the 
meaning of the word of electricity. Not yet is this 
word fully made flesh, nor will it be except as men 
bring it down into the actual realm of human ex- 
perience and daily life. Then its message will be 
appreciated and appropriated. 

This is the great law which underlies the neces- 
sity for the incarnation. When the word of truth 
concerning God, and the relations between men and 
God, must be made known to men, there was just 
one way for it to be done in order to make it vital 
in human experience. It must be made flesh, must 
be brought into the life of man as a living reality. 
Here, as elsewhere, men had tried to spell out this 
greatest of all words. Moses had caught much of it. 
That spirit in him which paused to study the burn- 
ing bush is exactly the spirit which God looks for in 
men, to arrest their thought, and to open their minds 
and hearts to receive the truth. And God had 
crowded all He could upon every man who was will- 
ing to hear. God gave to Zoroaster, and to Buddha, 
and to Confucius and to Mohammed 

all that they could take. They all did Every oth- 

i • ii , i • i erword 

something to spell out the word, in the was par- 
attempt to help their fellow-men. But adequate 11 " 
their best was but partial, and be- 
trayed a fatal lack. It was not adequate to meet 



154 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the needs of men, not adequate to solve the problem 
of character, not adequate to answer the cry of men 
for a way for redemption from sin. There must be 
a fullness of the truth, touching human needs with 
power, and illumining the dark places in the path- 
way. The one way must be adopted. Hence we 
read that "When He cometh into the world, He 
saith, . . A body hast thou prepared me; . . lo, I 
am come to do thy will, God!" (Heb. 10: 5-7.) 
This was simply the recognition of the necessary 
law, and obedience to the same. 

Now for the first time we have the word "full" 
used to describe the completeness of the revelation 
of truth in Christ. The failures of others to be ade- 
quate messengers of the truth were due to the blur 
of sin, to the bias of the selfish human heart, to the 
failure to see that truth must be not only clear in 
precept, but incarnate in character. It was neces- 
sary for one to come and put this truth into the life, 
and thus reveal its power to redeem and uplift into 

the fellowship of God. Christ alone 
ness of "the nas brought into human life the truth 
truth is in which is adequate to satisfy every need 

of the human soul, the truth which 
makes men free. It is evident to every student of 
history that Christ rises so far above every other 
teacher as to require a place in a class by Himself. 
He is "the Light of the world." But we have em- 
phasized in a former chapter that Christ is the great- 
est specialist in character the world has known. "In 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 155 

Him was life, and the life was the light of men," 
says John the evangelist. We are to remember that 
this fact is vital in connection with all the teaching 
of Christ. When he said to men: "I am the way, 
the truth and the life," His claim to be the way to 
God rests in the fact that He lived the truth in His 
daily life. Therefore when men seek to know His 
truth, it must be recognized as having its proof in 
actual character. 

The fact of incarnation is not of itself an evi- 
dence that the teaching is true. But it is the ex- 
planation of whatever power a teaching may have. 
Every incarnation has power in it. If the teach- 
ing which works its way into life be true, its effect 
is helpful in the life. But if it be false, its effect 
is hurtful. This is the explanation of whatever 
power may be discovered in any relig- 
ion. It has been made flesh by those Every in- 
carnation 
who believe it. They all have some has power 

truth, and in so far as this shall have orm 
its full effect, the result is blessed; 
but in so far as error finds place mixed with the 
truth, the result is a curse. Thus in various teach- 
ings the truth is so overlaid with error as to make 
the result of the teaching more hurtful in the end 
than helpful. The world has revealed the results 
of these various teachings, as we noted in the chapter 
on the Bible. The one only reasonable conclusion 
from the test, thus made in the life of the people 
of various faiths, is that Jesus Christ alone has 



156 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

brought us the truth in its fullness, for those people 
who come most nearly to a loyal obedience to His 
teachings, in their purity and simplicity, reveal a 
character more nearly Christ-like than any other. 
Let us then note the three great "glories" mentioned 
by John in the teachings and life of Christ. 

THE DEITY OF CHRIST. 

The first glory was that "as of the only begotten 
of the Father." It is the glory of the divine life. 
In it we find the revelation of sonship. We have 
shown in a previous chapter that explanation in- 
volves superiority. But this must mean that if ever 
man is to understand himself and his relation to 
God, there must be a revelation from God. Now if 
this revelation be embodied in human life, the sim- 
ple necessity compels the recognition of the fact that 
such a Teacher must be more than a man. More- 
over, if the object-lesson be for the purpose of mak- 
ing God known to men, it is also clear that such a 
person manifests God to men. The idea that such 
a transcendent person would be just a man is di- 
rectly contrary to the scientific demand. If he be 
simply a man, he cannot explain man nor God. If 
no one superior to man has yet made God manifest, 
then man does not know God. But we have shown 
why it is reasonable to believe that 

Therea- q. q( j ^as ma( j e sucn a revelation of 

son why 

revelation Himself as will meet man's need, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 157 

therefore the only reasonable view must come 

m J from one 

about the person in whom the revela- superior 

tion is made is that he is above man, 
and the manifestation of the very life of God. This 
is the only logical and scientific inference from all 
the facts set forth in the previous chapters. 

Therefore our inquiry must be, Do we find any 
such unique and transcendant life in Christ which 
indicates a character above that of man, and in keep- 
ing with our conception of the character of God? 
For evidently our highest conception of God must 
be in the realm of character. Only thus can there 
be a self-revelation of spirit in the terms of moral 
quality in human life. Is it possible for men to 
conceive of a more perfect character than Christ's? 
Can we add anything to it, or take anything from 
it, which would make it more perfect ? The verdict 
of the race and of history is clear. We cannot con- 
ceive of a more perfect character. But that must 
mean that we have in Christ the actual incarnation 
of the character of God, in so far as man can know 
God. As we study this character, let 

us remember it is not described for us Christ's 

character 

in the New Testament, but that it is could not 

portrayed in the simple record of His ceived as 

words and acts. We have noted that !p 5 e per " 

feet. 

the perfection of character is realized 
in the perfect obedience of law. Christ emphasized 
this, and claimed to obey the law of His Father per- 
fectly. Moreover men agree that in no point is it 



158 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

possible to indicate wherein Christ was not thus free 
from sin. He distinctly challenged men to point out 
the first sin in His life, and based this challenge 
upon His perfect character in order to make valid 
His claim that men should believe in Him, since 
His life proved Him to be true. (John 8:42-46.) 
He taught others to pray for forgiveness, but He 
never did so Himself. The entire Gospel record 
reveals the atmosphere of His holy life, such as the 
world has never seen before or since. 

But some one will ask: "If God be infinite, how 
can we think of Him as being self-limited and com- 
ing into the life of a man?" The answer comes 
clearly from the same point of view — If God be 
infinite, how can we conceive that He lacks the 
power of self -limitation in self-revelation? All cre- 
ation is the evidence that God manifests Himself in 
limited forms. But the question and answer involve 
a further appreciation of the nature of spirit in rela- 
tion to body and material media. Consider a man 
who is addressing an audience of ten thousand peo- 
ple. He is not limited to the physical measurements 
of the human skull. His invisible spirit is in vital 
and immediate communion with the invisible spirits 
of the ten thousand people within the reach of his 
voice. He is as really present at the 
seinhnita- farthest corner of that room as at the 
tion of the point from which he speaks. Or con- 
sider a man in New York speaking by 
telephone to a man in Chicago, recognizing the voice, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 159 

talking as immediately this distance of a thousand 
miles as if the two were in the same room in either 
city. In fact both are in the same rooms in both 
cities. The importance of this fact must be em- 
phasized, for it means that the spirit makes the body 
the basis of his activity, by which he is related to 
the physical limitations and media through which 
he speaks or acts. A man sits in his office, having the 
available means and influence, and says: "Let a 
house be built I" The house is built. Time is in- 
volved. The forests, the quarries, the mines yield 
their quota, and men are brought to the task; but 
all because of the fact that this human spirit said: 
"Let it be done I" 

It is when we pause to appreciate the actual na- 
ture of spirit, and the fact that the activity of spirit 
power reaches beyond limitations once binding us 
to such a degree as to teach us that its nature is to 
work from the basis of physical media, rather than 
to be limited by these media; — it is when we real- 
ize this fact that we begin to appreciate the nature 
of the incarnation of Christ in the man of Nazareth. 
We are at once lifted above the superficial notions, 
sometimes voiced, about His limita- 
tions to the measurements of a human About the 

limitation 
life and its environment. By so much of the 

as He knows the laws of nature better Christ 
that we do, even as we know them so 
much better than our fathers did, so we can see that 
He, from the basis of a human life in Palestine, may 



160 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

not have been limited anything like what some have 
supposed. The reach of His power, even in the 
days of His incarnation, may have involved far 
greater liberty than we can conceive, though we have 
the actual experience to realize how spirit enjoys 
such liberty as it transcends its material basis of 
activity. Here and there in the Gospel record we 
feel this evident reach of power in "the Master," 
exercising that power in His transcendent preroga- 
tive as the Son of the living God. 

One of the most significant statements made by 
any man regarding Jesus Christ is that made by 
Napoleon at St. Helena. It was after his days of 
conquest were past, and all the glory of his earthly 
splendor was swiftly fading away. In answer to a 
question from General Bertrand, he said : "I know 
men ; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. 
Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ 
and the gods of other religions. That resemblance 
does not exist. Everything in Him astonishes me. 
Between Him and whoever else in the world there 
is no possible term of comparison. He is truly a 
being by Himself. His birth and the history of His 
life, the profound character of His teachings, which 
grapple the mightiest difficulties with 

Napole- the most admirable solution, His Gos- 

on s con- 
viction pel, His empire, His march across the 

LTcnrik a g es > everything is for me a prodigy 

which plunges me into reveries which 

I cannot escape. Here I see nothing human. For 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 161 

three hundred years spirit struggled against the bru- 
tality of sense, conscience against despotism, the 
soul against the body, virtue against all the vices. 
The blood of Christians flowed in torrents. They 
died kissing the hand which slew them. Everywhere 
Christians fell, and everywhere they triumphed. 
You speak of Csesar, of Alexander, of their conquest, 
and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in their 
soldiers. These, with Charlemagne and myself, 
founded great empires ; but upon what did the crea- 
tions of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus 
alone founded His upon love; and to this day mil- 
lions would die for him. What an abyss between 
my deep misery and the eternal reign of Christ, 
which is proclaimed, loved, adored, and which is 
extending over the whole earth!" 

This conviction that Jesus was more than a man 
has marked the thinking world through the cen- 
turies. It is the transcendent character of His man- 
hood which has convinced men of His place in the 
Godhead. Let us recall certain important facts 
which explain this belief in the deity of Christ. The 
moral atmosphere of the time must be remembered. 
In a former chapter we have noted the consciousness 
of sin, and the cry of despair among the men of 
prominence of the time. Josephus, the Jewish his- 
torian emphasizes the moral abominations which 
darkened his own country. In Palestine Galilee was 
disreputable, and in Galilee Nazareth was notori- 
ous for its ignorance and profligacy. "Can any good 

K 



162 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

thing come out of Nazareth ?" was a question readily 
understood. Living in Nazareth through His boy- 
hood and youth, Jesus came forth to face the people 
with such ideals of purity as no man had ever im- 
agined before, with such conceptions of man's rela- 
tions to God in intimate fellowship of holiness as no 
one had ever suggested before. Christ's teaching 
about the prayer-life which was the 

The sur- familiar experience of His own life in 

roundings x 

of the so marked a way that His disciples 

of Christ. realized it to be the secret of His 

power, was a teaching which involved 
the fullest knowledge of God in the deepest reali- 
ties of the soul. Let this be remembered. Not even 
Moses and the prophets begin to approach Christ in 
the revelation of God which comes through prayer 
to His children. Their teaching about prayer was 
most inadequate, as compared with that of Christ. 
His was simply the record of His daily experience. 
Out of Nazareth came this young man thus reveal- 
ing to men this marvelous life in daily, complete 
fellowship with God. 

He appeared among men unknown, having no 
training in their schools. The great teachers of 
other peoples were trained at the feet of the greatest 
masters; but Jesus of Nazareth had no human 
teacher. No man can study His teachings without 
realizing that He did not need a human teacher. 
Not only so, but his public ministry of teaching and 
healing and helping men continued through the re- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 163 

markably short period of three years ! This is per- 
haps the most extraordinary fact of all, 
from a human point of view. How ^ar^of 6 
soon, ordinarily, would any career of public 
so brief a length of years, have been without a 
forgotten, especially as He built no t Um h n 
material structure as a monument, and 
wrote no line with His own hand to preserve His 
teachings. His influence was of the purest spirit- 
ual kind. He used no force of arms, yet today, after 
nineteen centuries, His influence is greater than that 
of all other men combined in the history of the race. 
Nothing approaches this astonishing fact in the 
record of mankind. 

We can understand why it was that the people 
wondered as He taught them as one having author- 
ity. The secret of His power as He spake was in the 
holiness of His life which the people felt. When 
He condemned their sin, men realized that they were 
facing one who could not be put aside with indiffer- 
ence. After they had heard Christ, it was either to 
hate the sin which He condemned, or to hate Him 
because they still loved their sin. It was this two- 
fold result which marked the three years of His 
ministry. On the one hand, those who Avere ready 
to be honest and true forsook their sins and followed 
Him, while those who refused to be true clung to 
their sins and crucified Him. He claimed to be the 
long-promised Messiah whom God was 
to give to Israel. This claim was re- claim to 



164 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

be the ceived with incredulity by almost 

of Israel. every one at the first. The teaching of 

John the Baptist opened the way with 
a small number of disciples, but they were very few. 
When He told them the Kingdom was not to be a 
material one, as they had hoped, but a spiritual one, 
they repudiated the very idea. As He told them of 
the Fatherhood of God, they wondered. Such a 
conception of God was revolutionary. The children 
were not allowed to name the name of Jehovah, but 
were taught another name to use in its stead. That 
they could come into a loving sonship with God was 
startling teaching indeed. He claimed to have come 
forth from God in order to bear witness to this 
truth, and to lift men into this glorious sonship, 
involving a life of righteousness and love of all that 
is worthy of the love of God. 

The progress of development of the truth in the 
minds of those who heard Him is most important 
to appreciate. It is evident that men came to be- 
lieve in the Fatherhood of God by becoming con- 
vinced that Christ was the Son of God. As He re- 
vealed a familiarity with God as His Father, they 
grew into the conviction that He knew God as they 
did not. As they saw Him go away for prayer, they 
felt the reality of His communion with God, such 
as they did not know. When He told them that He 
came forth from God, some of them stumbled, but 

„, others felt His God-consciousness, felt 

The . . 

growth or that he was a citizen of two worlds, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 165 

that He was as well acquainted with the ? on " 

u . viction 

His Father in the heavens, as with His that His 
disciples on earth. They knew His true mWaS 
ideals were far above anything their 
human nature had ever conceived. As the days went 
by, they came to the compelling conviction that He 
was not only greater than any prophet, but the very 
Son of God, as He claimed. Therefore when the 
question was asked them, "Whom do men say that 
I am V 9 they told Him how some declared Him to be 
one of the great prophets ; but when He pressed the 
inquiry home to their own hearts, Peter, their 
spokesman exclaimed: "We believe, and we are 
sure, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
God V 9 That was a joyous day for Christ. For this 
He had come, that men might see the sonship in 
Him, and be brought into the fellowship of God. 
This is the explanation of that glad reply : "Blessed 
art thou Simon, Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath 
not revealed it unto thee ; but my Father in heaven." 
At the very moment when they acknowledged His 
claim to be true, He emphasized the reality of it 
regarding the sonship with God which He was thus 
revealing to them. 

But another fact appears in this teaching of 
Christ. He rises sheer above the lines of national- 
ity, and gives to men a religion of universal char- 
acter. Other religions have been provincial. Their 
founders have not conceived of a world-movement, 
based on God's thought of the whole world. But 



166 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

this is the thought of Christ, as He said: "God so 

loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 

but have everlasting life." "I am the light of the 

world." "I am the way, the truth and the life. No 

man cometh unto the Father but by 
The „ _ . . ... J _ 

matchless me. Ignoring sectional prejudices and 

of the° ter errors, He stood forth, not a Jew, but 
teaching the universal man. True worship and 

godly virtue were both unknown to the 
multitudes of men. The pride of the human heart, the 
doctrine of retaliation, the spirit of war ruled every- 
where. He taught the greatness of humanity and 
the saving power of love. To both Jew and Gentile 
it was an unwelcome message. But He brought a 
new conscience to men, and the power of His truth 
won them to the new teaching and the new life. It 
all took meaning in that it was the truth of God 
concerning man, and that the new life was to be 
lived unto God. The reality and greatness of the 
spiritual life appeared, as men had never under- 
stood it before; and when out of it all He pointed 
them to eternal life for the immortal spirits of the 
redeemed, He drew back the veil of the unknown 
and gave them a vision of the sonship which shone 
with an increasing glory in the thought of an abid- 
ing fellowship with God. 

When all these teachings are studied in their full 
significance, in contrast with the noblest teachings 
of others, the superiority of the revelation of God 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 167 

and of character which we have in Christ becomes 
immediately apparent. The best of the teachings 
of others are few and fragmentary. Christ gave us 
one continuous and harmonious compendium of 
truth, matchless and complete. They had, as we 
have noted, great teachers among men. Christ was 
not taught of man. Yet His ideals can be found 
nowhere else in all the world's thought. They 
transcend the highest levels of human thinking, as 
represented in all the centuries. But more than 
this, Christ lived His own teachings about character. 
He realized His own ideal, and men saw it complete 
in His daily life. It was one long manifestation of 
the joy and victory which comes to one who knows 
the sonship of God. It was His relation to His 
Father all the way along which explained every- 
thing. Let one study the whole Gospel record and 
discover how the God-consciousness of 
Christ breathes through it from first to with God 

last. Let this be remembered. It is iJSftS?* 

in all He 

the fact that Christ was revealing God said and 
to men that we are emphasizing, and 
this revelation could only come as men realized that 
Christ was filled with the very life of God. No 
man can study the Gospels without being convinced 
of this reality. It saturates and penetrates the 
whole life which lives through the written record. 
The living "Word" is God speaking, and the pres- 
ence of God is the living presence which all men see 
whenever and wherever they touch Christ, listen to 



168 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

His teaching, and watch His ministry of love. 
When a man pnts forth the assertion that Jesus was 
a dreamer, and was mistaken when he claimed to 
have come forth from God, it is evidence that such 
an one has never studied the Gospels with the true 
desire to enter into the secret of this holv character. 
We have noted the scientific character of spiritual 
discernment which comes from living into the life 
of a great master. Here that truth applies. It is 
when a man aspires, above everything else, to pos- 
sess a character like that of Christ, that the reality 
and power of Christ's life, as being filled with the 
very life of God, will appear. 

Again let us remember that explanation involves 
superiority. Christ alone explains man and gives to 
man an explanation of God. Such power of knowl- 
edge, such spiritual preeminence, such holy living, 
such universal sweep of vision, such transcendent 
personality, were impossible to a merely human 
mind judged by every other man ever known. 
Christ is in a class by Himself, as Napoleon said. 
His life of victory over sin was explained by noth- 
ing other than His abiding fellowship in the love of 
His Father, in which He perfectly manifested the 
will of God to men. It was all so perfectly natural. 
There was no strained effort to show God to men. 

_ , The manifestation simply shone out 

Nothing , r J 

explains because the life was suffused with its 

ceptHfa^" blessed reality. Every man that 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 169 

touched Him felt the majesty of His s< ? n 1 f^P J 

;. J with God. 

more than human personality. There- 
fore when He told His disciples that His religion 
would nil all the earth, they felt the need of it in 
all the world, and the certainty that He knew where- 
of He spake. His utter absence of selfish ambition, 
together with His serene confidence that He would 
win the world, bespeak a certainty of knowledge 
which is the inspiration of His people forever. For 
that certainty is not simply in word, but in the 
experience of the victory which follows His truth 
into life, and the certainty that His truth will fill 
the earth. We shall speak in the next division of 
this chapter of His victory over death; but we de- 
sire at this time to point to the fact that the only 
adequate explanation of His life is the manifest 
revelation that God filled His life, as the life of no 
other man before or since has been filled with God. 
We come now to consider the questions which 
have already arisen in the minds of some. Many 
seem to stumble at the statement in the Gospel rec- 
ord that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Let 
the reader turn to the Gospel according to Luke, 
and study with care the first two chapters and six 
verses of the third chapter. It is to be noted that 
Luke takes pains to declare that he is making a 
careful record of facts about which he has direct 
information from those who a from the beginning 
were eye-witness, and ministers of the word," and 



170 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

that he "had perfect understanding of all things 

from the very first." Then he proceeds to tell of 

the hirth of John the Baptist and of Jesus. This 

can only mean that he has had his information from 

Elizabeth and Mary. But Luke has given us a few 

plain evidences of his historic accuracy, which are 

important in view of the query as to 
The teach- , * . ? / . . _ 

ing con- now accurate he may be. In the third 

the^irein chapter Luke describes a combination 
birth of of rulers in Rome and Palestine, in 

order to fix a certain year in the rec- 
ord. This combination was so unusual that it ex- 
cited curiosity among scholars. Investigation re- 
vealed the perfect accuracy of Luke's history. It 
is this sort of historian who has given us the record 
of the virgin-birth. But some have felt it impossi- 
ble for them to believe in such a miracle. It is 
only necessary to remind such that there was a first 
man who had neither human father or mother. 
Once realize that, and then remember the signifi- 
cance in the fact that Christ is called the "second 
Adam" through the New Testament. Further, 
when we realize the character of Christ's life, which 
we have just tried to describe so imperfectly, it re- 
mains to be said that it is more reasonable to be- 
lieve in the fact of the virgin-birth, than to ques- 
tion it. The life itself is so much more wonderful 
than the manner of His birth. 

Again there are those who find difficulty in the 
mystery of the union of the human and divine in 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 171 

Jesus of Nazareth. But we have au illustration of 
a union just as mysterious, within human experi- 
ence, namely, the union of body and spirit in man. 
So men beheld this union in Christ. They realized 
that He was human, and in so far one with men; 
yet they felt that in Him men became one with God, 
because the divine was there. In fact there is a 
great truth set forth in Christ which 

is to be realized in every redeemed hu- ^J 1 ® union 
J m of the hu- 

man life. We have seen in all crea- man and 

tion that God reveals Himself in var- Christ. 
ious forms of His creation, and that 
in so doing God unfolds a process in which He is 
giving more and more of His life to His creatures, 
until in man He bestows a fullness of spiritual ca- 
pacity such as was not given to any lower creature. 
Moreover we are given the clear teaching that it is 
the purpose of God to give to men still more of His 
indwelling in the larger life of the redeemed. That 
is to say, there is a capacity in human nature to 
receive the indwelling life of God. There is an 
affinity in the spirit nature between the divine and 
human. This is the affinity between Fatherhood 
and Sonship. But we are able to see in a great 
measure how Christ is just this fullness of union 
made manifest. He continues to preserve this 
union, and those who are adopted into the sonship 
with Him, and are joint heirs with Him, have been 
given the right to come into this complete indwell- 
ing of the life of God. Again we note the scien- 



172 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

tific character of spiritual discernment. It is a 
truth in Christ which those appreciate best who have 
entered into His own experience somewhat in fel- 
lowship with God. 

But the most serious difficulty to many is the 
problem of the trinity, or tri-unity of the Godhead. 
Let it be emphasized that the evangelical Christian 
church does not teach that there are three Gods, nor 
that there are three persons in one person, as if the 
term "person" were used in the same sense in both 
cases. The teaching is that there is one God, but that 
there are three persons in the Godhead. 
The mys- The reason Christians believe this teach- 

Triiiity. i n g about God is because it is clearly 

and positively taught by Jesus Christ. 
He speaks of the Father and of the Spirit as separate 
individuals, and yet as being one and the same God, 
and of Himself as being one with the Eather and 
one with the Spirit. Perhaps we may find some 
help in the effort to apprehend this mystery, if we 
study some suggestions in the realm of nature. We 
have noted in a former chapter that nature has 
given us some evidences of the character of the be- 
ing of God. 

One of the insoluble mysteries to the human mind 
is the mystery of being. In the world of being we 
find the three facts of law, manifestation and force. 
Law is the eternal thought, the truth about being, 
the ultimate reality, the determining idea in the 
divine mind. The Greek philosophers called this 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 173 

ultimate thought the Logos, the "word," and this 

is the term which John uses, when he says: "In 

the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 

God, and the Word was God." Fichte said: "The 

law of the universe is God." But law is not all of 

God. In addition to law there is the 

manifestation of its working;, and the An illus- 

07 tration 

manifestation of its working involves from the 

the revelation of force. This law being. ° 
points us to the Being whom Christ 
calls "Father." The universe of worlds is hound 
up in Him as a unit, in Him are their affairs har- 
monized and administered. The manifestation of 
law is the embodiment of thought in form and ma- 
terial substance. It is the revelation of the truth 
as to the reality of being, and the necessities in- 
volved as to the permanency of being. These mani- 
festations, as we have noted, involve a progress of 
development, until we have the highest and com- 
plete manifestation of the character of God in the 
character of Jesus Christ. John tells us the "Word" 
was with God, and that "all things were made by 
Him, and without Him was not anything made that 
was made." Christ was the truth expressed in 
terms of human life. He was the "Word" spoken. 
We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews that "God 
having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the 
prophets, . . . hath at the end of these days spoken 
unto us in His Son." Just as the law is expressed 
on lower levels of creation, so it is expressed on the 



174 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

higher level of character. John says we beheld in 
Him "the glory as of the only begotten of the 
Father." Christ is the manifestation of God to 
men. 

But in the world of being this manifestation of 
law is a revelation of force. Here also force is 
lower and higher. We have noted in a former 
chapter that Alfred Kussell Wallace points ont the 
fact that the only force men understand is will- 
force. From this fact Mr. Wallace argnes that we 
are compelled scientifically to infer that at the last 
analysis all force is will-force. That is to say, as 
we have noted heretofore, it is the power of the 
Spirit. But this therefore means that when we 
speak of the power of God revealed in the mani- 
festation of law, working out into form and sub- 
stance, as the Spirit of God, we are in exact accord 
with the fact as we know it in the nature of being. 
The Bible teaches that in the creation 
ofbeing 1 ^ " tne Spirit of God moved upon the face 

involves f the waters." (Gen. 1:2.) So all 

a Trinity. . . 

through the bcriptures the teaching is 

that the Spirit is the creative, regenerative, sancti- 
fying force, working according to the law, on the 
various levels of the manifestation of divine power. 
Now when we unite these three principles, found 
in all nature, we discover the very conditions of the 
universe to be such that there can be no perfect 
Deity without a Trinity. They are not one first 
and three afterwards, but three in one always and 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 175 

forever. But while this illustration suggests a 
truth about the nature of being which may illumi- 
nate the mystery of the trinity in the Godhead, yet 
the reason we believe in the tri-unity of God, as was 
said, is because it is clearly taught by Jesus Christ. 
He has given us reason to believe that He knows, 
and He has given us reason to trust Him. We 
think of the Father as God in the heavens, of the 
Son as God with us, and of the Spirit as God in us. 
It is because of all that we have noted of the more 
than human Christ that we rest in His teaching 
concerning His oneness with the ever living God. 

In his recent book Things Fundamental, Dr. 
Chas. E. Jefferson points out that the Christian 
centuries have seen schools of men come and go who 
have insisted that a lower conception of Christ must 
be held than that set forth in the New Testament, 
and held by the overwhelming majority of Chris- 
tians from the beginning. These schools have never 
flourished with abiding power. It will suffice for 
us to refer here to the Unitarian movement in New 
England, which began about one hundred years ago. 
Eor a few years it seemed as if it 
would sweep the country. Indeed its concep- 
adherents prophesied that in fifty ch n -%°* 
years the Evangelical faith would be havenev- 
gone. Today there are about seventy fiedthe 

thousand Unitarians in the whole land, Christian 

world. 
and more than ten millions of Evan- 
gelical Christians. Through all the Christian na- 



176 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

tions the overwhelming majority are Trinitarians. 
The lower conception of Christ has had a fair trial, 
and has been repudiated by the Christian Church. 
It is the Trinitarian Christian Church which has 
revealed that vitalizing power of God which is 
spreading the Gospel of Christ, with redeeming 
effect, throughout all the earth, as no lower concep- 
tion of Christ has ever been able to do. We cannot 
deny that this is a mighty witness to the truth. It 
is incredible that God would continue to bless a 
delusion, and gird with power a false notion about 
Jesus Christ, while the truth languishes and dies. 
All our previous study reveals the fact that the hu- 
man heart cannot be satisfied with anything else 
than the living God. That revelation of God which 
is in Jesus Christ has ever satisfied the deepest 
longings and loftiest aspirations of every man who 
has desired a character like unto that of Christ. As 
Principal Fairbairn has said: "Christ is the one 
Being needful for all men everywhere. No one can 
take His place or do His work. He stands alone. 
No one cometh unto the Father but by Him. To 
receive or reject Him is to receive or reject God." 
As we recall the truth and life which the world 
beholds in Him, we begin to appreciate that sub- 
lime statement of the Apostle Paul, "In Him dwell- 
eth all the fulness of the God-head bodily." (Col. 
2 ; 9. ) It is out of that life filled with the indwell- 
ing life of God, the Father speaks ever to men say- 
ing: "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him!" 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 177 



THE ATONEMENT BY CHRIST. 

This wondrous life of Christ commands our ador- 
ation, but man has proved his inability to live it of 
himself. The touch of death is upon mankind. The 
sinner is not at peace with God. He has broken his 
character in the violation of the law, and has be- 
come estranged from God, remaining self-con- 
demned in the consciousness of his guilt and sin. 
How can he ever come into this life of victory and 
power revealed in Christ? The answer is to be 
found in Christ Himself. There is another glory 
shining in the life of Christ, the glory 

of the divine love. "God so loved the T ^l lo 7 e 

of God re- 
world that He gave His only begotten veaiedin 

Son, that whosoever believeth in Him o/christ. 
should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." (John 3: 16.) "Herein is love, not that we 
loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son 
to be the propitiation for our sins. . . . Hereby 
perceive we the love of God, because He laid down 
His life for us." (1 John 4: 10 and 3 : 16.) In 
Komans 3 : 23-26 the Apostle Paul tells us "all have 
sinned and come short of the glory of God; being 
justified freely by His grace, through the redemp- 
tion that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set 
forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, 
to declare His righteousness for the remission of 
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, 
to declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness; 

L 



178 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

that He might be just, and the justifier of him who 
believeth in Jesus." These teachings of Scripture 
set forth the truth concerning that work accom- 
plished by Christ which is called the work of atone- 
ment, to the end that we may be forgiven for all sin, 
become reconciled to God, and enter into the bless- 
ings of sonship with God as they are revealed to us 
in Christ. 

It is this subject of the atonement by Christ that 
we are now to study. Why was it necessary ? There 
are some who contend that it is not necessary. They 
insist that men do not need any such work of Christ 
on their behalf. They argue that God simply asks men 
to repent of sin and give a loving obedience to Him, 
and when this is done, nothing remains necessary to 
bring man into fullest fellowship with God. But 
this view is superficial, and does not appreciate all 
the demands in the case. Kepentance because of 
sin is not enough. Those who contend for its suf- 
ficiency believe in Jesus as a teacher, perhaps a 
teacher sent from God ; but do not believe in Him as 
a Savior whose salvation consists pri- 
sity forthe marily in His work of atonement for 

atone- us which is always involved in all the 

ment. . . 

teaching wherein He tells us of the 

love of God. The message of forgiveness always 
rests in the fact that it is through Christ that we 
have it offered to us. That faith in Christ which is 
necessary to man's reconciliation to God must ap- 
preciate the truth that but for the atonement accom- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 179 

plished by Christ, revealing the forgiving love of 
God for men, there could not be a way of salvation 
from sin. We must now see that this is not an 
arbitrary statement; but is the truth which is in- 
volved in the very necessity of the nature of God 
Himself, and in the nature of man as well. The 
subject is of vital importance to every living man. 
Too many have been satisfied to neglect it, and have 
never appreciated its real character. 

This is a problem in the realm of government. It 
transcends the immediate relation of the individual 
sinner to God. Sin is something more than a sin 
against God. It involves the moral government of 
the race. The scientific method of approach to the 
study must be by noting the demands which are 
made upon human governments in dealing with a 
criminal. Certain necessities rest upon human gov- 
ernments in working out the whole problem of deal- 
ing with one who has violated the law. 

The same necessity must exist in God's ? he PJ9?" 
u , lem of the 

government of the race. Is it suf- atonement 
ficient in human government to pro- erament. V " 
claim that pardon waits for every re- 
pentant criminal? Manifestly not. The place of 
law, the value of law, would cease. Law would have 
no restraining potency when coupled with such a 
proclamation. It would simply be good advice and 
nothing more. Exceptional instances of clemency 
on the part of a civil governor are by no means to 
be taken as illustrative of the possibility of pardon; 



180 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

for our problem must involve all criminals who re- 
pent, and must secure to all alike the offer of par- 
don and freedom. 

There is a remarkable incident in the history of 
government, which is calculated to serve as a valu- 
able illustration of the necessity of the atonement. 
The Locrian king, Zaleucus, gave their first code of 
written laws to the Greeks about 660 B. C. This 
code was so excellent that Demosthenes referred to 
the Locri as furnishing a model of good government. 
The people were jealous of their laws and proud 
of their governmental life. In the code of Zaleucus 
the penalty for adultery was the loss of both eyes. 
The son of the king was proven guilty of this sin. 
Special stress had been laid upon the necessity of 
obeying this law of purity, for the sake of the home, 
and for the sake of developing a high 
toric illus- standard of virtue among the people. 

Za\eucu°s What should be done ' The SOn WaS 

and his truly repentant, and pledged himself 

to future obedience. But was it suf- 
ficient for the king simply to pardon his son, and 
declare that nothing more was necessary ? The king 
loved his son, and wished to pardon him ; but if noth- 
ing more were done, the law would be discredited. 
Not to enforce the law would be nothing less than to 
admit that it was not important enough to maintain. 
But this would be unjust to the people, and to their 
appreciation of the vital importance of purity, and 
to their system of government. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 181 

If the son of Zaleucus were thus freely par- 
doned, and no penalty required because of his 
sin, it was certain that every other citizen 
who was guilty of the same sin must be like- 
wise freely pardoned, if penitent. But in this the 
king would do great injustice to his own char- 
acter, for he abhorred this sin, and if he should 
pardon his son, without in any way showing his 
abhorance of the crime, he would be untrue both to 
himself and to his people. The necessity was upon 
the king to do something to show that the sin was 
condemned and could not be condoned. Moreover 
it must be checked or the kingdom would be ruined. 
Something must be done that would 
deter the people from repeating the sin, thnilfmore 
something that would honor the law, than re- 
something that would show the true necessary- 
mind of the king, something that would to i" stif y 
preserve the welfare of the people. All 
this was absolutely necessary to good government. 
Was there any way to accomplish all this and yet, 
at the same time, allow the king, in his great love 
for his son, to pardon that son, or to remit the pen- 
alty ? The king himself found the way. He caused 
one of his son's eyes to be put out, and one of his 
own eyes to be put out as well. This was a partial 
execution of the penalty, and a partial atonement by 
the king in behalf of the son. It was all of love, 
not simply the love of the son, but also the love of the 
law of purity, the love of his people, and the love of 



182 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

the moral government which was vitally necessary to 
the continuance of the life of his people in their 
purity. 

Eow how did this vicarious atonement on the part 
of Zaleucus satisfy all the requirements in the case % 
The answer is that it accomplished everything that 
the enforcement of the penalty of the violated law 
would have done. As king and law-giver he could 
not be true to himself unless he honored the law by 
maintaining it as necessary to the moral life of his 
people. The free pardon of the penitent son was not 
enough to accomplish this. Something more must 
be done to show the king's abhorance of the sin, and 
to tend to deter the people from repeating the crime. 
The execution of the penalty would have shown all 
this, and would have been the strictest justice. But 
love sought a way to be just to the law, and also 
justified in offering pardon to the penitent son. The 

suffering of the king accomplished this. 
rious suf- The people realized the truth about all 

thTkine ^ e interests involved as fully as if the 

honored penalty had been executed. Nay, the 

king's willingness to suffer thus, be- 
cause of his love for the law, as well as because of 
his love for his son, revealed to his people the neces- 
sity of condemning sin and maintaining righteous- 
ness, even while pardon was granted to the penitent. 
Had the king offered to have both of his own eyes 
put out, in order to save the eyes of his son, the 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 183 

significance of all that was upheld by his action 
would have been the more earnestly intensified. In 
this actual instance in history we behold the neces- 
sity of atonement in government, where men appre- 
ciate all the profound meaning of law and of life 
in which character is the obedience freely and lov- 
ingly given to law. Sin makes atonement necessary 
in order that any part of the execution of the law 
may be withheld, so that pardon may justly be of- 
fered to penitent men. 

Now this is exactly the case in the government of 
God. Yet it is at this point of the necessity which 
rests upon God to uphold His law of righteousness, 
because of His love of righteousness and because of 
His love for men, that so many have failed utterly 
to appreciate the absolute necessity of the atonement. 
No man will hesitate to say that God must, to main- 
tain His government, do all that the Locrian king 
did. Without an adequate atonement God's govern- 
ment could not stand under the proclamation 
of pardon for every penitent soul. This is the truth 
stated in that passage in Eomans 3 : 23-26. The 
deep sense of justice in the human heart, revealed 
long ago in ancient Greece, still feels that sin can- 
not be so freely pardoned as to suggest that God 
condones sin and is not concerned to maintain His 
law of righteousness. It is perfectly clear that for- 
giveness would be impossible for God, M _ 

^ r ' God could 

so long as God is true to Himself, ex- not offer 



184 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

pardon to ce p^ an atonement should open the way 

men with- r l J 

out an for love to be both just to the law of 

merit" righteousness and justified in offering 

pardon to penitent sinners. This is the 
atonement which Jesus Christ accomplished in His 
life and death. His coming into the realm of human 
life had its distinctive purpose in this necessity to 
manifest to men the love of God, both for His law 
of righteousness and for His human children. And 
we must see that it was not enough for Christ to 
obey the law perfectly. That would secure the com- 
mendation of God, that would indeed honor the law ; 
but God's attitude toward sin must be made plain, 
and God's abhorence of sin could only be unmistak- 
ably taught by the suffering of His Son. It must 
be made plain that God can never be reconciled to 
sin, so that the manifestation in the atonement would 
actually prove to deter men from sin. 

Let us therefore realize what is involved m an in- 
telligent faith in Jesus Christ, and in genuine re- 
pentance toward God because of sin. The popular 
thought about it all is pitifully superficial. An in- 
telligent faith in Jesus Christ realizes that Christ 
came into the flesh because the atonement was neces- 
sary. All that Christ taught on this subject enters 
into faith's appreciation of Him as the only Saviour. 
In the tenth chapter of John He teaches that "the 
good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." But 
let every man realize that this is a 
faith see a vacarious offering of Himself which 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 185 

Christ -makes. Note His words: Christ as 

the aton- 
'Therefore doth my Father love me, ing Sav- 

because I lay down my life, that I xour ' 
might take it again. No man taketh it from me; 
but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it 
down, and I have power to take it again." Intelli- 
gent faith recognizes that no man can be reconciled 
unto God unless he accepts the atonement which God 
has provided in His Son, and realizes the absolute 
necessity for such atonement. It is this that enables 
him to see that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, be- 
cause it is through His redeeming love that men 
have the way of forgiveness and peace and hope re- 
vealed. That attitude of men which contends that 
no atonement has been necessary, and that no atone- 
ment has occurred, betrays the failure to apprehend 
the necessity which inheres in the very nature of God 
of making it clear that He can never be reconciled 
to sin, and that His pardon cannot mean that sin 
is condoned one whit. Otherwise He would cease to 
be God. This superficial theory is based upon in 
inadequate conception of the profound significance 
of God's responsibility to His universe, in being 
faithful to which He must maintain righteousness 
and condemn sin. 

In fact when these advocates of repentance would 
have us suppose that nothing more than repentance 
is necessary to pardon, they betray the lack of ap- 
preciation of the real nature of genuine repentance. 
It is nothing less than a realization, to a greater or 



186 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

less extent, of what our sin is in the sight of God, 
how it violates His holiness, how it wounds His love. 
Prof. Denny has stated the case powerfully thus: 
"Such consciousness it is not in the power of the 
sinner to produce at will. The more deeply he has 
sinned, the less repentance is in his power. Hence 
only through a revelation of God, and especially of 
what God is in relation to sin, can repentance be 
evoked in the soul. ... A demonstration of 
love, too, must be given in act. It is not enough to 
be told that God loves. The reality of love lies in 
another region than that of words. In Christ on 
His cross the very thing is present, beyond all hope 
of telling wonderful, and without its irresistible ap- 
peal, our hearts could never have been 
of h the 1S1 ° n melted to penitence, and won for God. 
atonement . . . The self-centered regret 
to a genu- which a man feels when his sin has 
inerepen- found him out, the wish, (compounded 
of pride, shame and anger at his own 
inconceivable folly,) that he had not done it, these 
are spoken of as repentance. But they are not re- 
pentance at all. They have no relation to God. 
They constitute no fitness for a new relation to Him. 
They are not the opening of the heart in the direction 
of His reconciling love. It is the simple truth that 
the sorrow of heart, that healing and sanctifying 
pain in which sin is really put away, is not ours 
in independence of God; it is a saving grace which 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 187 

is begotten in the soul under the impression of sin, 
which it owes to the revelation of God in Christ." 

But faith goes past the cross to the broken tomb, 
in the appreciation of our mighty Saviour. It is 
very important to remember that one can scarcely 
discover the mention of the death of Christ in the 
New Testament without also finding accompanying 
it the statement concerning His resur- 
rection from the dead. The atone- Christ's 

resurrec- 
ment was a victory over sin and tionthe 

death. When we recall the marvelous ™ er °s^. 
life which we contemplated in the pre- 
vious section of this chapter, we are not surprised at 
the assertion of the Apostle Peter, that "it was not 
possible that He should be holden of death." (Acts 
2 : 24.) The life of the living God was His, and in 
the consciousness of that He declared that He had 
power to lay down His life and take it again. The 
historic fact of the resurrection of Christ is the very 
foundation of the Christian's faith. All the ISTew 
Testament teaching as to the fact becomes undoubted 
reality because a living faith in the living Christ 
becomes conscious of the power to conquer sin, and to 
bring us into the fellowship of the living God. Thus 
the work of the atonement becomes effective to the 
penitent believer, as he rejoices in God's forgiving 
love, and enters into His fellowship and peace, and 
begins to learn the meaning of sonship. 

There is a teaching in the New Testament regard- 



188 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ing the way this atonement accomplished for us by 
Christ becomes actually efficient in our lives. The 
result intended by God in all this work of Christ 
is that we should be received into His sonship. John 
tells us of Christ that "He came unto His own, and 
His own received Him not; but to as many as re- 
ceived Him, to them gave He the right to become 
the sons of God." (John 1: 12.) The word which 
describes this experience of entering into the son- 
ship is the word "adoption." The Apostle Paul has 
given this word its fullest meaning in his letter to 

the Romans. In order to appreciate the 
The adop- 
tion into helpfulness of this teaching to the peo- 

and^into P^ e °^ ^ s time, we must remember that 

citizen- Roman citizenship was counted the 

highest possible blessing. It was the 
dream of every one who was not a citizen that he 
would some day become one. The law which regu- 
lated the transaction was one of the items of general 
knowledge in every part of the empire. The gen- 
eral thought in the epistle to the Romans is that sin- 
ners are aliens from the household of God, are recon- 
ciled through Christ, and are adopted as children 
into the household of faith. Certain facts about the 
Roman law are very significant in connection with 
this teaching. By adoption a slave was made free 
and became a citizen as well as a son. By adoption 
a stranger was received into the life of the family 
exactly as if he had been born into it, and received 
all the rights of a child, and all the privileges of a 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 189 

citizen, taking the name of the adopting citizen. It 
was a customary thing for one who was thus adopted 
out of slavery into freedom, into sonship and citizen- 
ship, to say, "I was born again on that day." 

A most interesting fact in the Roman law throws 
additional light upon this teaching. The law of in- 
heritance among the Hebrews was that of primogeni- 
ture, by which the first born son received the prop- 
erty, and the remaining children had no part in it, 
unless by special provision. But according to the 
Eoman law every child was an heir equally with 
every other. The moment a child was born, he be- 
came an heir. Hence the significance of Paul's 
words in Rom. 8 : 14-17, where he says : "If chil- 
dren, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ." Another factor in the Roman 

law was the requirement that a witness Tn © inher- 
, , , , v n , , . . itance and 

should be present and state that the citi- the wit- 

zen on the one hand offered the adop- spfrit°to he 
tion to the slave, and that the slave the child 
agreed to meet the requirements, to take adoption, 
the citizen's name, and enter into the 
life of the family. So again we understand Paul's 
statement "the Spirit Himself beareth witness with 
our spirits that we are the children of God." Noth- 
ing could be more beautiful to the thought of the 
people of the New Testament time than this teach- 
ing, so readily understood by all, of what it meant to 
be "born again," and adopted out of the slavery of 
sin into the freedom of sonship, and the blessings 



190 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of citizenship, through Jesus Christ and the witness 
of the Holy Spirit. This was what John had in mind 
when he said Christ gave to as many as received 
Him "the right to become the sons of God," and this 
is what the Apostle Peter had in mind when he wrote 
of God "having begotten us again unto a living hope 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to 
an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that 
fadeth not away." Thus is the atonement made 
effective by the adoption into the sonship of God. 
The attempt to measure the truth of this deliverance 
from the slavery of sin causes the responsive soul 
to leap with unspeakable joy because of God's un- 
speakable gift, and to join in that ascription of praise 
which is recorded in the apocalypse, where they cried 
unto the Lamb : "Thou are worthy, for Thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood, 
out of every kindred and tongue and people and 
nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and 
priests, and we shall reign on the earth." 

THE REDEMPTION THROUGH CHRIST. 

The third glory specified by the beloved disciple 
is the glory of the fulness of the divine truth. It 
is not enough to be adopted into sonship. We must 
grow into the realization of this wondrous relation 
to God. We have noted that the real explanation of 
Christ's matchless life was His ability to say "My 
Father" to God, and of God to men, and to know 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 191 

all that it meant. Just so we see that it is Christ's 
plan for us that we should learn to say "Our Father" 
to God, and of God to each other. This suggests 
the place of prayer in the Christian life, which we 
shall discuss in the next chapter ; but it also suggests 
that very much is necessary in the development of 
the child of God before he shall grow into an in- 
creasing fullness of fellowship. It need 

, , . , , , Adoption 

scarcely be said that we are to take must be 

Christ as our Guide and Elder Brother bygro^th 
in this growth. There is a faith which into son- 
accepts Christ, but which hesitates to 
follow Him. Yet unless the believer will do more 
than simply begin, no progress is possible. Bishop 
Thoburn has told of an orphan boy who was adopted 
into a family, to whom the father tried to make it 
plain that he was to be treated just like the other 
children. Matters went very well during the first 
day, but at bed-time the children all came naturally 
and lovingly to receive from their parents the good- 
night kiss. The newly-adopted son was not ready 
for this, and held back. But as the days went by he 
entered more and more into all the life of the fam- 
ily, and the time came when the good-night kiss was 
as natural to him as to the others. So God would 
have us realize the sonship. 

The Apostle Paul gives us the point of connection 
between the work of Christ for us and our life in 
Him, in Gal. 2 : 19-20, where he says : "I through 
the law died unto the law, that I might live unto 



192 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is 

no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and 

that life which I now live in the flesh I live in 

faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who 

loved me, and gave Himself up for me." This points 

us back to that conversation which Christ had with 

His disciples, when He was leaving them, and was 

making clear to them the necessary con- 

Stakis 11 ditions to growth in the life which He 

without had revealed to them, and was offering 

thecondi- to them. In John 15:1-11, Christ 

tions of points out the necessity of an abiding 

success. l .... . 

fellowship with Him, like unto the vital 

union between the vine and the branches. We know 
perfectly that the only scientific attitude toward the 
attainment of success in anything is to discover the 
plain condition to that success, and immediately and 
energetically enter upon the task of meeting those 
conditions. There must be that quality of faith 
which shines in fidelity. There must be an enthu- 
siasm which absorbs the life in the intensest con- 
centration of the energies of the soul. Paul describes 
the Christian in the terms of the race, where the run- 
ner strains all his powers to reach the goal. More- 
over the secret of the highest success is always in 
the fact that the victorious man loves the thing so 
thoroughly that he perseveres unto the end. 

The first essential to this abiding in Christ, as 
the condition to the realization of sonship, is knowl- 
edge. Without intelligent appreciation of the nature 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 193 

and value of a mode of life, its helpful development 
is impossible. "This is life eternal to know Thee, 
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast 
sent." (John 17:3.) In his second epistle, the 
Apostle Peter arrests our thought by the emphasis 
which he lays upon this essential : "Grace and peace 
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of 
God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine 
power hath given us all things that pertain unto life 
and godliness through the knowledge of Him that 
hath called us to glory and virtue." It is the scien- 
tific demand everywhere that a man who hopes to 
be masterful in any profession must know the books 
which contain the necessary knowledge. The 
absurdity of a man imagining that he could be a 
physician or lawyer without knowing the books we 
all instantly admit ; yet it is actually true that thou- 
sands who have begun the Christian life 
have never taken the matter seriously edge es- 
enough to study the Bible, which is the the^eali- 
rule of faith and life for men. It is a zation of 
wonderful tribute to the power of the 
Bible to note how many do grow into something of 
effective Christian lives even though they have a 
very superficial knowledge of the Word of God. To 
have a faith in Christ which shall be victorious it is 
perfectly apparent that one must know the living 
Word through the written Word. ~No Christian ever 
developed spiritual power who was not a student of 
the Bible. It is the bread of life to thousands who 

M 



194 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

hunger after righteousness. There are in these days 
many helps at hand for every intelligent man who 
wishes to secure, in the most systematic and useful 
way, an adequate knowledge of the truth which 
makes us free. 

The necessity rests upon the Christian to realize 
his responsibility as a recipient, which we have em- 
phasized in a former chapter. To each one of us 
Christ offers the fullness of His life, not simply the 
taste of its blessedness. It is as if a man offered a 
friend a million dollars, and the friend would take 
a few hundreds, and live on as if there were noth- 
ing more to take, while the giver continued to make 
the offer, saying: a All the rest of this is yours to 
receive. Are you not going to take more V 9 Who 
can imagine the thought of Christ as He looks upon 
our indifference to His wonderful riches of grace 
available for us, because we are absorbed in some 
desire which is utterly unworthy of the immortal 
soul ! Moreover Christ summons us to a service which 
shall at once develop in us a character increasingly 
like His own, and equip us to be His witnesses to 
all men in the earth. There is a kingdom to be built. 
The truth must be given to men until 

"V^T© sir© r©~ 

sponsible its fulness shall be the glory of their 

SeSrof ^ e# ^ e world is thronging with prob- 
grace by lems. 'Not one of them can fail to find 

its solution in the teachings of Jesus 
Christ, The business of the Christian is to be a 
witness to this truth with such power as to help men 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 195 

everywhere to see the necessity of accepting Christ 
as their Saviour. We have noted the necessity of 
the incarnation of Christ, because it is in the life 
that the light ever shines with power. But here we 
see the necessity of the incarnation of Christ over 
again in the life of each and every one of His fol- 
lowers. God's revelation of life must be a character. 
Hence Christ. But the revelation must always con- 
tinue to be character. Hence Christians. When 
Christ said: "I am the Light of the world," (John 
9:5), He also said to His disciples: "Ye are the 
light of the world." (Matt. 5:11-16.) Phillips 
Brooks was right when he said "the great argument 
is not a syllogism: it is a man." 

Furthermore the Apostle Paul shows, in Eom. 
10 : 8-15, that since men must know in order to be- 
lieve, the responsibility rests upon all who know 
Christ to impart that knowledge to those who are 
still in darkness. Every man who receives Christ 
becomes a trustee to give Christ to others. In the 
business world a trustee has a peculiar sense of honor 
constraining him to be faithful to his trust. Just this 
same high sense of honor must be in the heart of 
every trustee of the Gospel of Christ. This obliga- 
tion is one strangely ignored by men and women who 
would never dream of refusing to pay 

a note for ninety days at the bank. But Tne ni § n 

sens© of 
this obligation to Christ is vitally real, honor 

and the recognition of it gladly is abso- trustee©* 
lutely necessary to the redemption of the Gospel 



196 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

should the race from sin unto God. Paul felt 

have. 

it as he cried : "Woe is me if I preach 

not the Gospel !" (1 Cor. 9: 16), and again when 
he said: "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to 
the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the nnwise. 
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of 
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salavtion to 
every one that believeth; for therein is the right- 
eousness of God revealed from faith to faith." God 
still presses His claim upon us in Christ, just as He 
pressed it upon Paul. The realization of sonship 
can only come to the soul who accepts it as a joyous 
privilege and a loving service. 

In still another figure the Christian is likened to 
a soldier. In our time nothing is more needed than 
to have this idea of the Christian life revived in 
the popular thought. The soldier enlisted, taking 
his life in his hand, for the purpose of enduring 
hardship even unto death for the sake of the cause 
which he deemed worthy of such devotion. It was 
distinctively an emptying of self, and a welcoming 
of privation. In the civil war, as the calls for more 
volunteers were repeated, men left their ordinary 
vocations by the thousands, and girded 

^S««?" themselves for battle. Wives and 
tian must 

gladly en- mothers, sisters and daughters said : 
ness as a " "G° • we w iU manage somehow." Cur- 
good sol- ren t fashions had no fascination for 
dier. 

them at that time. Something really 

vital to the nation's welfare was at stake. Nothing 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 197 

less that this spirit must be revived among the fol- 
lowers of Jesus Christ, who loved not His life even 
unto death that we might live through Him. He 
bore his cross for us. Shall we not bear our cross 
in His fellowship of suffering, in order to labor to- 
gether with Him unto the great victory which He 
will one day see over the forces of sin ? 

Such growth in fidelity and in power, through self- 
denial and glad devotion to the Master, can only be 
realized, as has been said, when the beginner, who 
has come to Christ, stays with Christ all the way. 
Many have heard Christ say : "Come unto me/' and 
have heeded ; who however have not heard Him say : 
" Abide in me." They are only babes in sonship, and 
never come to strength of character or influence. Yet 
they sometimes wonder why they do not grow strong 
in the Christian life. Such a situation is pathetic 
when we realize the childishness of the query, as if 
there were any reason to expect to grow strong by 

such methods as they adopt. They 

Constant 
are putting no such thought and energy abiding in 

into this business of developing Chris- reason-** 
tian character, as they put into the ablene- 
developing of other things. In the next 
two chapters we are to study further this subject 
from the two points of view of the individual Chris- 
tian, and the world's redemption. But let us see 
just here how plainly the necessity appears which re- 
quires every soul adopted into sonship to grow into 
the fullness of the redemption through Christ in 



198 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

order to the realization of the sonship of God in such 
measure as God intends for men. 

Let the reader review the marginal index of this 
chapter, in order to pass in swift outline the whole 
movement of the thought which presents the reason- 
ableness of our faith in Christ as the incarnate Son 
of God, and the atoning Saviour of men, who seeks 
to have us enter into His sonship. Probably the 
first impression made by the mere act of the review 
will be that a little time is required. That suggests 
that time is required for the spiritual exercise neces- 
sary to grow into the fellowship of Christ. We must 
not pass from this last division with 

Time must its suggestions of the conditions of 

be devot- . . 

ed to the Christian growth, without laying stress 

cuitiva- upon this great necessity. God must 

tionof the have time with us, if He is to reveal 
life. Himself to our inmost souls. Friend- 

ship is impossible except time be given 
to its cultivation. It required three years of constant 
staying with Christ on the part of His disciples in 
order that they might secure enough knowledge of 
Him to enable them to go on in fellowship with Him 
through His abiding Spirit. A college student con- 
siders it reasonable to give one or two hours every 
day, for several years, in order to master the Latin 
language. A musician counts it necessary to devote 
at least Hve hours a day to practice, if proficiency in 
execution is to be maintained. But how then dare 
we hope to realize proficiency and power in Chris- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIST. 199 

tian service unless we give the time necessary to its 

cultivation ? No argument can stand before God to 

justify the neglect of this devotion of time, for no 

time can be so well spent; and here, as elsewhere, 

the will never fails to find the way. 

Once more, let us realize that this programme of 

service laid down for us in the New Testament is 

not one to be dreaded. It is the most blessed of all 

possible experiences for the human soul. Men are 

anxious to be happy and joyful, and the pursuit of 

happiness is absorbing thousands who are following 

false trails in the search of it. When Christ gave 

us the programme which leads to the truly blessed 

life, He emphasized from first to last that this was 

the way of blessedness and of unspeakable joy. In 

what are called "The Beattitudes" m , „. 

i. i -it This life 

these steps in the progress 01 building is most 

Christian character, and rendering }tJpre- m 
Christian service, are revealed. It is clous 
the beatific vision which is involved in 
them, and it is the beatific life which they describe. 
(Matt. 5: 3-16.) Paul's emphasis upon the deepest 
meaning of sonship is in this that "we suffer with 
Him, that we may be also glorified together." It is 
this that makes us the children of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ. (Eom. 8:17.) It was a great 
work of vicarious atonement which has saved us from 
the slavery of sin. Therefore it is a cross of suf- 
fering which is in the way to every man's crown. 
But beyond it is the crown. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PfiAYER. 



201 



VIII. 

THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PEAYEK. 

The realization of the sonship of God, through 
Christ, on the part of men involves development 
along two lines of growth: first, that of the indi- 
vidual, in the development of the whole man into an 
increasing personal fellowship with God ; second, that 
of the race, in the spread of the truth as it is in 
Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. In this 
chapter and the next we shall consider these two 
movements. Moreover this two-fold development is 
to be in point of time in the earth, and also to extend 
beyond the limitations of earthly conditions into the 
continued existence of the immortal spirit, through 
the redemption of Christ. As the first 

six chapters led up to the study of the The P^" 

r . pose of the 

person and work of Christ, so these three re- 
three succeeding chapters involve con- SSpters. 
siderations which flow out of His life 
and work. Thus the fulness of the glory of the 
divine truth, instructive, redemptive, constructive, 
becomes manifest to the world. In the fourth divi- 
sion of the last chapter we have emphasized in a gen- 
eral way the truth which teaches our dependance 
upon Christ in all this growth, and especially the 

203 



204 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

only true spirit which should mark our purpose and 
endeavor to realize the blessings of the life of the re- 
deemed in Him. Again we venture to urge the most 
earnest spirit in this study, the constant desire to 
apply the truth immediately in our own lives, and 
the unceasing purpose to possess for our own this 
blessed life. 

It may seem strange to some, at first thought, that 
we should approach the study of the realization of 
sonship with God in the individual life by the path- 
way of prayer. But we believe the study itself will 
vindicate the method. It will be necessary, how- 
ever, to regard prayer as something much more com- 
prehensive than many have supposed. We are to 
think of it as involving the whole life of the Chris- 
tian. We sometimes speak of the prayer-life of the 
follower of Christ, the child of God. 
Tb f., pr J7" This prayer-life is all involved in the 

er-iiic til© 

key to the scientific belief in prayer. In this sub- 
ol^onship 1 J ec *> as ^ n a ^ others, our final teacher 
is Christ our Saviour. Having estab- 
lished the fact that Christ is the greatest specialist 
in prayer, our scientific method, as noted heretofore, 
is at once clear. We must learn from Him, for He 
knows the whole subject in its realities, as no one 
else can. Just as every student, at the first, must 
rely upon the statements of his teacher, until he 
has verified them for himself; so the follower of 
Christ must receive His teachings in the confidence 
that He has proved Himself trustworthy, and in time 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 205 

he will know the reality in his own personal experi- 
ence. In this instance, as in other parts of our 
study, there are various considerations which we 
should harmonize in our thought about prayer, with 
all that Christ teaches. 

God has taught us in all nature that His thought 
reaches to the minutest of His creatures. The revela- 
tions of the microscope are as wonderful as those of 
the telescope. There is a class of microscopic creat- 
ures called diamtomaceae. They are invisible to the 
unaided human eye. Their forms are of exquisite 
beauty and every conceivable pattern. Let us 
couple with this fact the truth that all nature re- 
veals a purpose in everything. That means that these 
microscopic creatures are the object of the direct per- 
sonal attention of the Creator. One of the most strik- 
ing features evident in the Creator's purpose is the 
provision of food for all living creatures. The same 
food cannot be used by all. Yet every 
form of vegetative and animal life has teaches 

an environment with resources which ?** ?*° d 

provides 

furnish it food. Having no resources for all our 
of self-maintenance, it is cared for, 
being provided the food which is exactly adapted to 
its need. The words of Christ are in exact accord 
with the teaching of science, when he said: "Be- 
hold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither 
do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heav- 
enly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better 
than they ?" (Matt. 6:26.) It is the Master teach- 



206 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ing us that God is immediately concerned in us, and 
in making provision for all our needs. 

Another fact comes to light as we study creation in 
nature. The tendancy in all nature is toward an in- 
creasing development of individuality. There is not 
a species but has some particular organ, whose dis- 
tinctive use individualizes it. The whole sweep of 
evolution points ever to this. But this points to a 
development in man which shall be most distinctive 
of all. Considered in the light of the teaching of 
both science and Scripture concerning the loving 
Fatherhood of God, this fact, evident in all nature, 
becomes luminous, as we know how a father is con- 
cerned in the development of each child according to 
its characteristics and needs. Man's 
ency to spiritual nature is to be developed. As 

? e J- e i^ pe Mr. Fiske has said, all the movement 

individu- < ? 

ality in of the ages points to this. We have 

seen that this spiritual nature has a 
capacity for fellowship with God. It is a capacity 
like unto that which exists between an earthly father 
and his child. Here then we have another prelimi- 
nary fact which points to the reasonableness of be- 
lieving in man's personal communion with God in 
prayer. 

But some one will ask: "Suppose we grant all 
this, may it not be only a part of the original plan 
of the Creator, put into commission long ago ? Why 
do we have any reason to believe that our prayers 
will make any difference with the way that God 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 207 

works out His plans in our lives ?" For our answer, 
let us consider the teaching of God in the realm of 
man's activity in the securing of his physical food 
and clothing. Here we discover a difference between 
man and all other creatures. All other creatures are 
bound by conditions of necessity, but man has a re- 
markable margin of liberty within which he deter- 
mines much about these things. While 

their food is provided for other crea- God has 
r . given to 

tures, as a rule, the rule for man is that man a 

he must have a part, as a laborer to- liberty. ° 
gether with God, in securing his neces- 
sary food. Within this margin of liberty God leaves 
some things to be determined by the man. By giving 
man this margin of liberty God in no way loses His 
control of His world; for it is only within a really 
narrow margin that He gives to man this liberty. 
And man most truly exercises his liberty when he 
does it in obedience to the laws of God, according 
to which man receives the fullest blessings of God. 
God puts life into the seed, God gives rain and sun- 
shine, God is in it all from first to last, and nothing 
is done without God. But man must cultivate the 
soil, must sow the seed, must gather out the stones, 
must keep the grain free from weeds, must be dili- 
gent and faithful to his opportunities, at the same 
time that he puts his faith in God to bless him in 
his fidelity. 

Then in the matter of clothing man is lifted far 
above all other creatures by this mark of his unique 



208 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

relation to God. The Creator has given the resources 
upon which men draw for the making of the apparel 
needed for the preservation and comfort of the hody ; 
but the margin of liberty in this realm is even more 
striking than in that of food. It is as men accept 
the offers of God, and appropriate the possibilities 
at their hand, and cultivate their powers in obedi- 
ence to God's laws, that all these treasures are 
secured. All this is our daily experience. ~No man 
can question the evident purpose of God to give to 
men this large margin of liberty. It 

This mar- i s a p ar t of the necessary exercise of 
gin of lib- p ,.,..■; n . , 

erty is that free will which is involved in the 

th^physi- making of character. And the way in 
cal and which man enters into his liberty and 

realms. possesses the blessings of God will de- 

termine the degree of blessings he can 
receive from God. The whole teaching of the Bible 
in its emphasis upon man's liberty and man's re- 
sponsibility is exactly to this effect. Soul culture 
is just like agriculture in the various conditions in- 
volving man's part. God gives spiritual life, God 
gives the grace needed to nourish that life, God is in 
it all just as He is in the life of the seed and the 
growth of the grain; but man must exercise his 
faith here, as he does in the cultivation of the soil. 
Man must bring forth fruits in evidence of repent- 
ance because of sin, and the result of obedience in 
love. It is exactly the teaching of Paul in his letter 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 209 

to the Philippians : "Work out your own salvation 
with fear and trembling : for it is God who worketh 
in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." 
(Phil. 2:12-13.) 

There is a scholastic method which assumes to 
see things from God's side, and decides how God 
does things. But the scientific method is to begin 
with facts, and work along the line of these facts as 
far as they lead us. Moreover the scientific demand 
is to know how man can accomplish the most in the 
cultivation of the powers which he consciously pos- 
sesses, rather than to satisfy his curiosity concerning 
mysteries about God. Men hold to the facts on 
lower levels, and must see that to be truly scientific 
we must do the same on the higher levels. We would 
count a man most impractical who would refuse to 
enter into the rich blessings which come out of his 
faithful cultivation of the soil because he does not 
understand all the mysteries connected with the un- 
folding experiences in his work. He 
has seen the result of agriculture and hold to 

at once believes he will secure the same the * acts 

about 
result if he shall meet the very same prayer, as 

conditions. This is exactly what a man to the facts 

does, who is scientific, in the interests about 

of his spiritual life. And he will do 

this, if he really desires a spiritual harvest. Too 

many do not really desire the spiritual growth, for 

they see that fruit-bearing will mean cultivation and 

N 



210 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

pruning; therefore they make the unscientific and 
insincere excuse for not doing their plain part that 
they do not understand it all. The work of a man 
who prays is as clear in its nature and results as 
the work of a man who plows. In both cases 
alike man's fidelity or failure will have much to do 
with his possession of God's blessings. God's prom- 
ise is clear both in nature and in character. The 
facts are here to prove that as men enter into the 
fullness of the prayer-life, they are as surely blessed 
as when they enter into the farm-life. Every hon- 
est man must hold to the side of the facts, and make 
the most of them, waiting for light upon mysteries. 
These great commanding facts about the results of 
prayer are to be had on every side. Such conspicu- 
ous instances in the lives of men whom many of us 
have seen and known personally, as George Mueller, 
Mr. Spurgeon and Mr. Moody, cannot be denied. 
These men were known as men of splendid ability, 
strong organizing capacity, great leadership, unusual 
common-sense, genuine and sincere. They had un- 
usual influence with men which all men realized to 
be due to their personal testimony as to their rela- 
tions to God, their heavenly Father. Their testi- 
mony alone was not the explanation of their power ; 
but their inmost lives were known, their daily cus- 
toms of prayer and communion with God. Those 
who knew them best, who lived in their 
about the fullest fellowship, knew that they lived 
of men" * a prayer-life as their most joyous ex- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 211 

perience of fellowship with God, com- whom we 
ing as children to a father day by day, known. 
with thanksgiving for all His blessings, 
and making their requests known to Him. As they 
grew into this fellowship, their faith increased, and 
their expectation became such a confidence that they 
rested in a quiet assurance that God would give them 
the blessings that would be best for them, as surely 
as the farmer trusts for his harvest while the seed is 
hid in the ground, waiting for the touch of God 
upon it. That God works in all this prayer-life 
through spiritual laws as constant and as immediate 
as His laws of agriculture, is perfectly evident to 
all these specialists in prayer; for these laws are 
made plain in the teachings of our Saviour upon the 
subject. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for 
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap 
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall 
of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. 6:7-8.) 
Thousands of competent witnesses have proved this 
to be true. 

Approaching thus by noting the teachings of sci- 
ence and the facts in human experience which com- 
pel us to recognize the reasonableness of believing 
in the realities of prayer, let us press closer to the 
spiritual significance of this prayer-life. There are 
those who admit that prayer might have a reflex 
blessing upon a man who sincerely aspires toward a 
better life. But imagine a man cultivating the soil 



212 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

simply because the physical exercise is beneficial as 
a reflex blessing in the way of maintaining his 
health ! There is that, but it is secondary to the 
great primary reality of the main business of secur- 
ing a harvest. Exercise alone will not nourish the 
physical man. It is important, but it is just the 
beginning. It is just so with the spiritual man. 
The exercise of prayer will not suffice in itself. It 
is a means to a mighty end, as God pours His life 
and power into the open minds and hearts that are 
anxious to receive His blessings. It is the clear 
teaching of the Bible that prayer is a direct agency 

which affects the result in human lives, 
brings, not and that the result would have been 
simpgr re- di£f ereil t if the prayer had not been 
direct made. The book of Nehemiah is one 

of the most instructive in its teaching 
upon this subject. The prayer-life of this man of 
God was full of vital reality. In emergencies where 
the conditions were utterly beyond his control, he 
looked to God for guidance and help, and the prayers 
were answered specifically again and again, bringing 
victory to the man, who gave all the glory to God. 
No one can read the record of the prayers of Christ 
without realizing that He surely considered that his 
prayer involved a very real change in the conditions 
of the people who were the objects of His concern, 
the sick and the dead. Just so we can have no doubt 
that God's laws which involve the place of prayer 
make it as certain that prayer will effect the results 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 213 

in our lives, making them different from what they 
would have been, if we had not prayed. 

One striking instance may be considered here be- 
cause it involves conditions which have often caused 
questions in many minds. The Apostle James re- 
feres to the prayer of Elijah for rain. (Jas. 5: 17- 
18.) He is making the point that Elijah was a man 
just like ourselves; yet he prayed for rain and his 
prayer was answered. Eead that simple story in 1 
Kings 18 : 42-45. The question which many ask is 
with regard to the reasonableness of supposing that 
God would interfere with the laws of nature, and 
send rain in answer to prayer. Why not % We have 
noted in a former chapter the way in 

which man, in the freedom of the God's an- 

. . . swer to 

human will, intervenes in the workings Elijah's 

of nature's laws again and again, in rain^ 
order to accomplish things worth while. 
We have known of men using heavy ordinance 
in order to hasten atmospheric conditions that would 
bring rain. If man has done it, with his limited 
freedom of power in nature, we are no longer con- 
cerned to argue that God could have done it. Our 
former considerations led us to the conclusion that 
if it were worth while, if it should advance the in- 
terests of the Kingdom of God, then it would be rea- 
sonable to believe that God did it, and would do it 
again. God's dealings with Israel at the time clearly 
vindicated his manifestation of His presence and 
power through Elijah. This is always the determin- 



214 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ing factor. The scientific thing to do is not to try 
to see how little of God there is in all the affairs of 
men, bnt to realize that God is in it all and imme- 
diately active in advancing the welfare of His chil- 
dren. 

Another fact of great importance mnst be kept in 
mind as we apply the scientific method of inquiry to 
the place of God's laws in connection with our pray- 
ers. There are various spheres of activity in human 
life, each having its own conditions to success. The 
danger to which some are liable is that they will 
suppose it reasonable to expect God to reward us at 
certain points of life, where we have not met the 
conditions of blessing. In the physical realm the 
laws of health are plain. If a man is to expect 
health, he must meet the conditions involved in the 
laws of health. One who does this may not have 
money, may not have knowledge, may not have char- 
acter; but he will have the physical health, because 
in that sphere he has obeyed the law. So another 
man may have wealth, for the same reason, and not 
have health or integrity of character. Likewise a 
third may have marvellous intellectual mastery, and 
be a physical wreck and pinched for 
SoSa oi money. Therefore when a man meets 

blessing the conditions of spiritual growth, he 

different ma 7 n °t possess physical, or financial, 

spheres of 0r intellectual resources, simply because 
activity. t > r j 

he may have failed to meet the con- 
ditions of securing these. A man may have all of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 215 

them to some extent, but only as the conditions are 
met which secure them. But some have thought that 
if they obey God's spiritual laws, God ought to give 
them blessings in other spheres, notwithstanding the 
fact that they do not meet the conditions there. One 
might as well argue that because a man has met the 
conditions of financial prosperity, he should there- 
fore secure the salvation of his soul, as to argue that 
God should reward us for fidelity in spiritual things 
with dollars of gold. It is true that we are taught 
that when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His 
righteousness, God will add all the material blessings 
that we need. But it is to be as we need, not as we 
want. At the same time we are clearly taught that 
neglect of any law of God in any sphere must result 
in our failure of blessing in that sphere. A man who 
inquired for a good shoe-maker was told of one near 
by, with the statement, "He is a good Christian." He 
replied that he was not asking for a good Christian, 
but for a good shoemaker. They do not always mean 
the same thing. We must keep these most important 
facts clearly in mind as we expect the blessings of 
God upon us. 

The foregoing considerations teach us that intelli- 
gent prayer must appreciate the relative values of 
things in our lives. Too many serve God in the hope 
that God will reward them with material prosperity. 
That is to say, they have utterly inadequate ideas 
about true spiritual wealth, "the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus." When Paul wrote 



216 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of this he was a beggar in a prison in Rome, receiv- 
ing alms from his Christian friends, the Philippians. 
Fruit-bearing trees are pruned that they may bring 
forth more fruit. The Christian who studies Paul's 
life will learn how he suffered for the sake of Christ 
<and the Gospel. But Paul had a vision 
All of of Christ as his atoning Saviour, and 

blessings leaped to bear his cross as a follower 

Sd e to^ d " of Christ 0ut of his trials and P riva " 

suit in tions and sufferings he wrote that "all 

growth. things work together for good to them 

that love God." (Rom. 8: 28.) Paul 
was growing into such deep spiritual blessings 
through his dicipline that he did not dare to plead 
for better physical conditions. Wealth is not a real 
blessing except as we use it for the glory of God, 
and even health is not a proper object of prayer ex- 
cept as we long to use our strength in the service 
of our Father in heaven. John saw into the heart 
of all real blessings, as he wrote to Gaius : "I wish 
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, as thy 
soul prospereth." (3 John 2v.) Only as it all re- 
sulted in spiritual prosperity was it a blessed gift 
from God. 

We have noted heretofore that the disciples of 
Christ felt that His prayer-life held the secret of His 
power. Therefore they asked Him to teach them to 
pray, which He did, giving them the fundamental 
elements necessary to all true prayer, and supple- 
menting these with other teachings, as He prayed 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 217 

with them and for them. The teaching in Matt. 
6 : 9-13, briefly analyzed, presents to us the following 
truth. The first words bring us again to the great 
thought of sonship. It was Christ who taught men 
to say "Our Father" to God in prayer. He is both 
Christ's Father and ours, as we come into the son- 
ship with Christ. Therefore we are to come to Him 
and pray as naturally as a child talks to his earthly 
father. Our Father hears us, just as 
an earthly father hears, but with far analysis of 
greater love and far greater concern for *J* e Lord's 
our welfare. All that we have hereto- 
fore said about the majesty of God and the holiness 
of His nature gives meaning to the need that we 
should approach His throne of grace with reverent 
hearts, praying "Hallowed be Thy name." Our 
prayer for the coming of His Kingdom in the earth 
will be realized by just so much as men learn to do 
His will, even as it is in heaven, where His name 
is hallowed, where the vision of the glory of His 
purity points to His abhorrence of sin, where the 
vision of the glory of His love points to the need of 
our conquest of self, even as Christ made that love 
manifest to us, in self-sacrifice and obedience to the 
Father's will. Thus we come into the fellowship of 
Christ in sonship, saying "Our Father" to God. 

Our Lord then teaches us four great facts about 
our Father. He is the great Giver, He is the great 
Forgiver, He is the great Leader, and He is the 
great Deliverer. As we let this truth grow into its 



218 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

fullness in our lives, we discover how utterly depend- 
ent we are upon God. We are nothing of ourselves 
apart from Him. In coming to God as the great 
Giver, we are to look to Him for "every good gift," 
both spiritual and material. Daily bread for body 
and soul we receive from Him, both by diligence and 
obedience on our part in accord with His laws. God 
is the Source of all our resources. Nothing that will 
God prove a blessing to us is too small a 

the great thing to bring to Him, and nothing can 

Giver, the , , . , TT . . ., , 

great For- be too big ior Him to give us, if the 

Ireat *** S ift wil1 enable US the better to g lorif 7 

Leader, Him in our spiritual growth and Chris- 

great De- tian service. We have considered God 
liverer. ag ^ e g rea ^ Forgiver in our study of 

the atonement. The vital fact to be emphasized here 
is that God's forgiveness cannot be realized in any 
heart that is unforgiving in its spirit. The fact is 
self-evident, for the unforgiving heart is unable to 
receive the blessing. These facts prove the need of 
God as the great Leader. When we go in the ways of 
our own choosing, we go astray. Our prayer must 
be that God will lead us, and then we shall never 
find temptations overcoming us, for God is also the 
great Deliverer. Whatever of evil may befall us in 
the testings, the trials, the temptations, the sorrows 
of life, He will bring His children through all of 
them victoriously, if we but make Him our trusted 
Leader. That is the vital essential. In the apprecia- 
tion of our utter insufficiency, as we thus put our 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 219 

entire life into the hands of our Father, all is well. 
The blessings of sonship are multiplied in our lives. 
This necessity is so vital that the Master em- 
phasizes it fully in other places. One of the most im- 
portant is the passage found in John 15 : 1-16, where 
we are taught that the essential condition to a vic- 
torious prayer-life is an abiding in Christ, as the 
branch abides in the vine. In this union with Christ, 
we must be keenly alive to the fact that He is our 
Advocate at the Father's throne, ever living to make 
intercession for us. To be in true sympathy with 
Christ, we are not simply to think of the historic 
Christ incarnate centuries ago, in union with us by 
His Spirit; but we are to see that Christ's life now 

is a continuous prayer-life in His great 

. /. . Abiding in 

work of mediation. This great fact il- Christ the 

luminates the place of intercessory condition 
prayer in the lives of all true followers of power 
of the Intercessor. All heaven is bend- 
ing down in a great yearning for the souls of men. 
We have noted that the Christian is a trustee of the 
Gospel to give it to others. This stewardship must 
be emphasized more and more. With it goes the 
prayer of intercession. When the man in the Gospels 
(Luke 11:5-13), went to his neighbor to ask for 
three loaves, he had a stronger plea because he was 
asking, not for himself, but for a friend. Even so 
there is a power with God in prayers of intercession 
which is not possible in prayers for ourselves. For 
it is where the element of self is most completely 



220 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

eliminated that God can most honor our faith and 
use us to His glory. 

All this truth illuminates the fact presented in a 
previous chapter, namely that we are recipients 
rather than agents in our Christian lives. Our oppor- 
tunity and our responsibility are both found in this 
fact. What we do as agents is done still more as re- 
cipients, for it is only as we receive power from 
God that we are able to do anything in His service. 
The branch grows its fruit as a recipient of life from 
the vine. Just so the Christian develops a Christ- 
like character in view of his having received the 
power to do so from Christ Himself. This is the 
great secret of the prayer-life, that is to say, of the 

true Christian life. Only to the man 
The Chris- . f. u 

tian al- who is poor in spirit, a spiritual beggar 

ways a re- before God, can the Kingdom come in 

more than power. To be conscious of continuous 

dependance upon God, to be utterly 

emptied of self, and to live in unceasing expectation 

from Him, these are the essential features of the right 

attitude in prayer. Then, and only then, is God's 

strength made perfect in our weakness. Then will 

His power work in us to will and to do of His good 

pleasure. The obedience of faith which ever draws 

closer to God along this pathway, will receive greater 

blessings than man can contain, until the overflow 

of our lives will reveal to others that God is filling 

us with His own life and power. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 221 

The climax of the truth is reached as we see that 

all thus far said leads us up to the place where Christ 

makes clear the distinctive part which the Holy 

Spirit must have in the prayer-life. We have noted 

in a previous chapter that as the Father reveals His 

truth in the Son, the power of the Spirit is made 

manifest to men. All power comes with the coming 

of the Spirit of God. In the 14th and 16th chapters 

of John, our Lord teaches us the truth about the 

coming and the work of the Spirit. In the 11th 

chapter of Luke He teaches us to pray for the gift 

of the Holy Spirit, and tells us that God is more 

ready to give us this gift than earthly parents are 

to give good gifts to their children. As He left His 

disciples, He instructed them to tarry in Jerusalem 

until they should receive power, after that the Holy 

Spirit had come upon them. (Acts 

1 : 4-8.) There is a work of the Spirit Th ® . 

' r supreme 

in the life of every Christian when place of 
his faith is quickened to accept Spirit°irf 

Christ as his Saviour; but there is an- thepray- 
? er life. 

other gift of the Spirit in a more dis- 
tinct way, as a baptism for service. This 
gift of the Spirit is necessary to the power of 
which we have been speaking. And the dis- 
tinctive need is evident when we learn from Paul, 
(Rom. 8: 26-27) that we do not know how to pray 
as we ought, and the Spirit maketh intercession for 
us with groanings that cannot be uttered, and He 



222 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind 
of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the 
saints according to the will. of God." This luminous 
fact throws light on that other striking expression of 
Paul, as he speaks, (Phil. 1: 19) to the Philippians 
of the helpfulness of their prayer, "and the supply 
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." It is as if a great 
reservoir is available for us, and in so far as we have 
the channels of communication open and free, there 
will flow down an endless and all-sufficient supply 
from our God. 

In order to keep these channels open and free, 
there is another duty which the Master has urged 
upon us with great intensity. It is the duty of 
cultivating a faith so great that God can do mighty 
things for us. This is in exact accord with the fact 
that we are evermore recipients. Let us see this 
truth in the light of the following illustration. There 
is a point a thousand miles or more, out in space, 
where there is no atmosphere. Scientists tell us that 
beyond that point the sunbeams pour down through 
the ether dark and cold. It is because of the atmos- 
phere about the earth that the sun's rays, through re- 
fraction and radiation, bring us the blessings of light 
and heat. Just so faith is the atmosphere of spiritual 
power which is essential to our receiving that power 
in any measure. It is ever according to our faith that 
we receive. In certain places Christ 
could do none of His mighty works be- {JS^^ 
cause of their unbelief. (Matt. 13 : 58.) necessary 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 223 

It was always great faith which brought £ ef ?. re it 
the gift of power. The great need in can be be- 
our prayer is not to give information 
to God about ourselves, but to open to His hand a 
heart so full of faith that He can supply our every 
need. It was Tennyson who said that Jesus Christ 
was to his soul what the sun was to the flower, and 
in that statement he suggests the right attitude of the 
soul toward Christ, as that of the flower open to the 
sun. Again and again the burden of Christ's utter- 
ance to men who needed His help was in the inspir- 
ing and also pleading statement "Only believe!" 
Eead the 11th chapter of John to see how that fact 
throbs through the whole experience out of which 
Lazarus was raised from the dead. To the doubting 
Martha, whose faith had been quickened and 
strengthened by the Master, He said, as if fearful 
that the necessary atmosphere might fail Him after 
all: "Said I not unto thee that, if thou wouldest 
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" 

This great fact needs, however, to be guarded from 
unscriptural and extreme application. In our time 
there is an emphasis upon the teaching that the 
prayer of faith will heal the sick, which is not prop- 
erly guarded by the whole teaching of the New Testa- 
ment about prayer. The advocates of this extreme 
view insist that if there be sufficient faith in prayer, 
there is no disease which may not be healed, for God 
has made known His will in this regard. This as- 
sumes that there is no longer need, when praying 



224 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

for divine healing, to say "nevertheless, not my will, 
but Thine." Moreover it is urged that no medical 
aid should be admitted, since full trust in God is all 
that is necessary for full recovery of health. It will 
be sufficient to refer to the experience 

offaith to ° f the A P ostle Paul > of which he tells 

the prayer us in 2 Cor. 12 : 7-9. Paul was suffer- 

Bick> ing with some affliction of the flesh, and 

prayed the Lord thrice to take it away. 
But God said no to Paul, promising to him grace suf- 
ficient to bear it. No one can doubt that Paul, with 
the affliction and the added grace, was a stronger 
man, with a richer spiritual experience, than if his 
prayer had been answered, relieving him of the afflic- 
tion and withholding the added grace. Therefore he 
declared that he gloried in his infirmities. As to the 
use of means, we know that Isaiah used a poultice 
of figs in the healing of Hezekiah, (Is. 38: 21) and 
that Christ used clay upon the eyes of one restored 
to sight. The teaching is clear that the Bible sanc- 
tions the use of God-given potencies of healing, seek- 
ing His blessing upon all such means used. But in 
all this, and beyond it all, we are to trust the power 
of God, when we pray for the healing of the sick, 
and especially when man has done his utmost, and 
the life rests, beyond the power of human skill, in 
the hands of the giver of life and the healer of 
disease. 

The logic of this teaching becomes even more clear 
as we note the plain words of Christ about the fact 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 225 

that God does not always give us the particular 
answer which we seek, for to grant the particular re- 
quest would not be best for us ; but God always gives 
us, when we pray in the right attitude toward Him, 
the blessing which will be best for us. All true 
prayer recognizes this loving wisdom in God. We 
are taught (James 4:3) that we "ask, and receive 
not, because we ask amiss ; and Christ tells us, (Luke 
11 :-ll-13) that sometimes when we think we ask 
for bread, God sees that it is really a stone, and He 
does not give it to us. When Garfield 
lay dying, the whole Christian part of the true S 

the nation united in prayer to God for S essins . 
r d though not 

his recovery. There was a feeling of always 
keen conviction that his life was needed fhTpartic- 

■just at that time in the affairs of the uiarre- 

. quest. 

nation. But it was his death which led 

to the healing of the differences between factions, and 
drew the nations of the earth to us in sympathy and 
good will. The real prayer in the hearts of the peo- 
ple was answered by his death, as it doubtless could 
not have been by his life. God knew best, and gave 
the answer in His own way. Instances of this sort 
could be multiplied in great numbers. The children 
of Our Father have discovered that if their particular 
petition at the time had been granted, it would not 
have been so well with them as it proved ultimately 
to be through the love of God that gave the real bless- 
ing by denying the particular request. 
/There is one more law which Christ has empha- 
o 



226 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

sized and which must be urged upon our earnest 
thought. It is the law that when two or three are* 
brought together in united prayer, there is conse- 
quently added power secured from God in answer to 
their prayer. This vitally important teaching is 
found in Matt. 18. 19-20, where it is asserted that if 
two shall agree on earth as touching anything that 
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of our Father 
in heaven. Then Christ continues "For where two 
or three are gathered together in my name, there am 
I in the midst of them." It is most instructive to 
note that the Greek verb here translated "agree" is 
the word "symphonize." This bringing 

Special f ^ w0 lives into full accord with 

blessings 

promised Christ, who is the bond of harmony, 

prayer. 6 an( ^ to wnose l^ e they are thus attuned, 

is asserted to be a condition of added 

power in prayer. Every one who has had experience 

in leading others into the blessings of the prayer-life 

will instantly appreciate the fact thus stated. It is 

as two believers who feel the need of the help of God, 

talk together about the reality of their experiences in 

prayer, about the facts which justify their full faith 

in God, about the deeper experience of one which 

the other longs to possess; it is as all this is done 

that an agreement tends immediately to deepen the 

faith of both, and bring both to God in a prayer 

of faith stronger than was possible before. It is 

this, beyond doubt, which we are taught was the 

secret of that marvelous agreement in prayer through 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN PRAYER. 227 

the days which culminated in Pentecost. "They were 
all with one accord in one place," (Acts 2:1) and out 
of that agreement in prayer there went np to God 
such a faith as no company of human souls had ever 
known before. Therefore the mighty power of God 
was poured out upon them. Still other Pentecosts 
will come as the like conditions are met by true be- 
lievers. 

Let the reader review the marginal index of the 
chapter, and survey the movement of the thought 
again. There is a growing conviction in the minds 
of many that the day is approaching when an increas- 
ing number of the followers of Christ will come into 
such a prayer-life as they had not imagined possible. 
Thousands are just standing within the doorway of 
the great treasure house, but have never appreciated 
nor appropriated the wonderful treasures that there 
await them. It is this prayer-life 
which has in it such boundless possi- ing to re- 

bilities for the people of God and for I e i H i s 

r x power to a 

the Church of Christ. Here and there praying 
in a few isolated cases God has re- 
vealed His readiness to bestow such blessings upon 
us as we have not yet known. He longs for nothing 
more than that we shall meet the conditions of pre- 
vailing prayer. Evermore He sends down this chal- 
lenge to His people : "Prove me now herewith, saith 
the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows 
of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there 



228 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

shall not be room enough to receive it." When the 
prayer-life of the people of God comes to be the 
dominant feature of Christian experience, the power 
of God will sweep the earth with the victories of 
grace. 



THE 
SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHEISTIANITY. 



IX. 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRIS- 
TIANITY. 

It is not intended to argue in this chapter that 
Christianity is the only true religion. The facts 
heretofore considered leave no doubt as to that. Yet 
the scientific belief in Christianity involves not only 
an examination into its source in Jesus Christ, not 
only its character in view of the claims it makes to 
be the only religion which adequately meets the 
world's needs ; but also an examination into its actual 
history in order to discover how far it has realized its 
mission in the world, and what has been its real power 
in human history. How far has Christianity proved 
its right to its claim by showing its 
power to bring greater blessings to men Questions 
than any other religion has brought? Christian- 
How far has it vindicated its claim to answer, 
superiority by its persistence as a mis- 
sionary force among men and nations % Has it held 
its own wherever it has been planted ? Has it realized 
the sonship of God among men with increasing fidel- 
ity ? Has it accomplished in nineteen centuries what 
we have a right to expect it to have accomplished in 
that time ? These are the questions which give us, 

231 



232 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

even as Christians, occasion to panse. To many of 
them we are compelled to answer with sorrow, and 
confess that the centuries of Christian history have 
revealed no such victories for Christianity as a reader 
of the New Testament would be justified in ex- 
pecting. What then ? Are there facts to be presented 
which compel the conviction that Christianity is the 
only true religion, notwithstanding the failures of 
Christians to realize its purest life and its victorious 
spread over the earth? Yes, we believe there are 
such facts. It is to these that we are to give atten- 
tion in this chapter. 

In our study of the Bible, and the people of Bible 
times, we saw clearly the fact that man's education 
into the light of spiritual truth has been very slow. 
All through the Old Testament that progress con- 
tinued, if slow, yet steadily onward, until one like 
the aged Simeon was ready for the coming of the 
Saviour. But there were few like him. Most men 
were slow to accept Jesus Christ and His high ideals 
of life, of which they had never dreamed before. 
Yet there were some who believed in Him, and who 
saw a vision of God, who caught something of the 
meaning of the kingdom of heaven, as it is to be un- 
folded in the human heart. It was a "little flock' ' 

who thus began to follow the Shepherd, 
gress of At times they were greatly discouraged 

Christian- because so few joined their number ; but 
been very the Master saw into the future years, 

and, with sublime assurance en- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 233 

couraged them to believe that no doubt could exist 

as to the ultimate triumph of His kingdom in the 

earth. (Luke 12:32.) Christ knew the material 

with which He had to deal. He told them of the 

long struggle before the consummation. He knew 

the years would drag out wearily before the end 

should come, when the Gospel should be preached 

to all nations. (Matt. 24:4-14.) But that day 

would come. 

Now the reason for believing in Christianity is 

that the study of the New Testament makes it clear 

that the difficulty has been, not with the teaching of 

Christ, but with the unreadiness of men to receive 

and obey it. All the way He shines out in the glory 

of His life and truth. Christ alone continues to 

give us the only solution of the problem of character, 

and to reveal to us the sonship of God which is the 

goal for human lives. Nothing has ever dimned His 

glory. Nay that glory has steadily increased through 

the years, even though His followers have fallen so 

far short of fidelity as His witnesses among men. 

Therefore He is still the only hope of the race, and 

therefore the religious system which still gives Him 

to men must be our most important object of faith 

and devotion. If it should be urged that 

God might, or ought to have proved His and His 

power to win men, in spite of human the § on?y 

unreadiness to accept His love, we must hope of 
, iiii . , . . the race. 

at once see that such a position is un- 
tenable, since the whole problem of human character 



234 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

is the problem of dealing with free moral agents, 
who cannot be forced to serve, but must be won by- 
love. It is vital that we face this fact honestly just 
here. The place to study it is in our own hearts. 
The man who knows the truth, but does not live it, 
is reproducing the history of the race. Were we to 
urge that God should compel us to be unselfish, to 
be full of faith, to be repentant because of sin, to be 
in sympathy with Christ, to live a genuine prayer- 
life, to be consecrated to the highest standard, to hold 
fast to every element of strength we ever possessed; 
we would be just as unreasonable as to suggest that 
God should do this in any other life. Eo, we know 
in our own hearts that the difficulty is with ourselves. 
God has done His part, and offers to us all that we 
need to have the victory. As we are true or unfaith- 
ful, the progress of the Kingdom is hastened or de- 
layed. 

This is exactly the philosophy of Christian history. 
It has ever been the same sort of human nature as 
our own, with which God has had to deal. It has 
been a sad picture of human frailty. But it has also 
been a wondrous picture of God's patience. All 
nature teaches us that it takes time to accomplish the 
making of anything that is to abide. Manifestly the 
making of character requires more time 

It takes than anything else. Man must be won 

time to J ° 

make any- by love and truth. Only thus can the 

wmlibide. victory abide. From the beginning un- 
til now Christ has stood at the doors of 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 235 

human hearts seeking to come in and secure an abid- 
ing fellowship with men. Some have let Him in, 
but only a little way. Some have given Him a whole 
life, a complete possession of the throne of the soul, 
as Lord and King. According as His witnesses have 
been true, the progress of the Kingdom has been ad- 
vanced, now slowly, now more rapidly. But just as 
the truth won its way through the early ages, it has 
kept its advance. Our Lord taught that it is a slow 
growth, even as when a man puts a seed into the 
ground, which comes up first the blade, then the ear, 
and after that the full corn. (Mark 4: 26-29.) As 
the recurring seasons of growth in nature have ever 
been interleaved with seasons of delay and death, so 
has it been in the spiritual realm. But the seed has 
continued to grow, and with each passing century has 
unfolded its promise of increasing power, until today 
the promise of the harvest is greater than ever before. 
We may say, from this point of view, that Chris- 
tianity is a growth into the knowledge of Christ. 
First, an increasing appreciation of Christ Himself 
as being the revelation of God, with a clearer vision 
of the Fatherhood of God and the divine love than 
our fathers had through many of the Christian cen- 
turies. Second, an increasing appreciation of the 
purpose of Christ concerning the work which His 
followers are to accomplish in the earth. This con- 
ception has steadily enlarged, with expansive and in- 
tensive growth, until today we have a conception of 
the place and work of the Christian religion which 



236 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

no century has had since the beginning. It is a part 
of the task of scientific inquiry to note the character 
of this slow progress into the place of intelligent ap- 
preciation of the purpose of Christ, as 
Sanity a clearly taught us in the Gospels. We 

growth in- have noted that the realization of son- 
knowi- ship involves three things: something 

Ch S ^ t* done for us, something done in us, and 

something done by us. It is in this 
study of the work to be done by the followers of 
Christ that we have to note how the not unexpected 
has come to pass ; for all human history has pointed 
to a slow progress here. It is a great battle of the 
forces of righteousness against the forces of sin, and 
the foe is only being overcome against most stubborn 
resistance, being intrenched behind the centuries of 
inertia in sin, and yielding by slight degrees to the 
steady attack of the truth in love. The "marching 
orders" of our great Captain have never been changed 
from the beginning. His vision of the end from the 
beginning has ever been clear, and some of His fol- 
lowers are just coming to see that vision with joy. 

Christ's conception was of a world-wide spread of 
His Kingdom. He laid upon His followers the duty 
to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and to the utter- 
most parts of the earth. (Acts 1:8.) His "great 
commission" is to "go, teach all nations." (Matt. 
28: 18-20.) We have noted that His teachings are 
not provincial, but universal in their character. But 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 237 

His people stumbled much in the way toward the de- 
velopment of the Christian ideal. The value of noting 
those failures will be in the help thus secured to 
guard the Christian of our time from giving place in 
his own life to those mistaken ideas which the years 
have proved inadequate and ineffectual. The sim- 
plicity and purity of the early type of Christian liv- 
ing were not easily maintained. Judaism had much 

of ceremonial in it which continued to 

i i • m. ' j.' v Christian- 

seek a place in Christian worship. ityisnot 

Paganism had much of the unspiritual asceti- 

. . cism. 

conception of religion, and the early 

Church was not long in feeling the subtle influence 
of these things. Out of both Judaism and paganism 
came the idea of asceticism as the mark of the true 
religionist. The movement toward this hermit-life 
swept round the Mediterranean, and at one time 
there were forty thousand hermits in the Thebaid of 
Egypt alone. But Christ had prayed to the Father : 
"I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the 
world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the 
evil." (John 17: 15.) In time men came to say: 
"This is not what it means to be a Christian." But 
the lesson has never been fully learned. This mode 
of self -exile from the busy, needy world is still sup- 
posed by some to have in it the secret of power in the 
victory over sin. But you cannot win a battle by run- 
ning away from the foe. This victory is to be won 
in the thick of the world's life. 



238 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

Then came the baptism of the Eoman Empire into 
the Christian Church, and with it came the thought 
of utilizing civil power as a means of advancing the 
cause of righteousness. But Christ had said : "My 
kingdom is not of this world." (John 18 : 36.) Yet 
to this day some men would fain identify Church 
and state in one system of control. The rise of 
Mohammedanism intensified this thought with a 
positive emphasis upon the idea of religious conquest 
by the sword. Out of it all came the Crusades with 
their spirit of vengeance, and the hatred of the foes 
of the faith. That was a day of sad travesty upon 
the teaching of Jesus Christ when Saladin sent an 
ambassy to Eichard the Lion-hearted begging for the 
lives of Mohammedan captives and offering to ransom 
them in gold. For answer Richard's 
Christian- army led out twenty thousand of -those 
conquest captives, men, women and children, and 

sword. butchered them in sight of the foe, 

sending back the message : "Thus does 
a Christian deal with an infidel!" And often has 
this method of force, in persecution and inquisition, 
shameful in its non-Christian character, been 
adopted by the Church which took the name of 
Christ. But men came inevitably to say: "This is 
not what it means to be a Christian." Alas, that we 
have not yet learned this lesson fully ! Some would 
still attempt to advance the cause of truth by con- 
straining and restraining men by legislative enact- 
ment. And still many who take the name of Christ 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 239 

would attempt to justify war as righteous for Chris- 
tian nations, as being a factor in advancing civiliza- 
tion! All this is unworthy of the followers of the 
Prince of Peace. 

The Dark Ages were the inevitable result of such 
conceptions of religion, and they saw a system of 
artificial dealing with sin in the Church utterly sub- 
versive of true character-building in the lives of the 
children of God. In spite of the darkness and degra- 
dation of it all, there were some who persisted as 
true witnesses of Jesus Christ. From the beginning 
the word "martyr," which simply means "witness," 
came to involve that sort of heroic fidelity to the truth 
which cost the life of those who were iaithful. 
Through the influence of such the 

Eeformation came, and with it the A new day 

dawned 
renaissance of truth, not only in reli- with the 

gion, but in all life. Slowly it has grown ^on " 11 *" 
into leaf and flower and fruit; but 
steadily it has brought the truth of the New Testa- 
ment in its purity and simplicity to be seen and un- 
derstood of men. Even in our time there is so much 
of our civilization which is utterly unworthy, and too 
much complacent compromise with it all on the part 
of the Christian Church. Who doubts that in the 
future years Christians will look back upon our day, 
upon our playing at the business of witnessing for 
Jesus Christ, and say : "How could they imagine that 
was the true Christianity ?" Much, very much, re- 
mains to be accomplished before Christ's ideal is 



240 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

realized by His followers, and therefore by the great 
world which waits for Him. 

The great fact which marks the breaking of the 
new day out of the night of the middle ages is the 
fact of the emphasis given to the value of the in- 
dividual man as man. In the years before the masses 
of men were dealt with in herds, most of them being 
slaves. But the new teaching was vigorous in its 
insistance that every man may enter alike into the 
sonship of God. It was all in that teaching of Christ 
when He taught men to say "Our Father." None 
then realized how those potent words carried in them 
the death knell of the divine right of earthly kings, 
and gave to every man a vision of an equality in 
spiritual worth in the sight of God and 

A new ap- men# Over the Christian world this 

preciation . 

of the val- new emphasis upon the old and 

asma^ an neglected truth spread with increasing 
power. There were ebbs and flows, 
reformations and counter-reformations, but the truth 
continued to spread. The constraining love of Christ 
throbbed anew in the hearts of men, and the responsi- 
bility of the followers of Christ for the faithful dis- 
charge of their stewardship brought its compelling 
sense of duty until they heard the call of God, "Who 
will go ?" and began to answer : "Here I am, send 
me." The Church of Jesus Christ was at last awak- 
ing to its mission. Through centuries it had been 
blind to its great trust; but at last it came to be 
true that men said to know Christ for their own 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 241 

Saviour meant that they must know Christ as de- 
manding that they should give the knowledge of Him 
to those who knew Him not. 

A vital point to be noted is the difference between 
the fundamental emphasis of Protestantism and that 
of the Church which thus lapsed so pitifully through 
the centuries of spiritual darkness. Nothing is more 
significant than the fact that Protestantism teaches 
that God deals with men, not from the point of view 
of their sins, but from that of their sin. This differ- 
ence between sin and sins marks the whole move- 
ment of the Christian development of the Church of 

the Reformation. Sin is a principle in 
. , , , 7 j. The dis- 

tne human heart, not an aggregation of tinctive 

transgressions or neglects. The soul who oJpKrtest- 
comes into intelligent relations with antism _ 
'God, through the atoning love of Christ, 
in whom we are reconciled to the Father, is not par- 
doned piece-meal, for some of his sins, while others 
remain unforgiven. Such a conception of the real- 
ization of sonship, of entering into the adoption 
whereby we cry "Abba, Father !" is utterly false to 
the experience of the human heart, in the relations 
of father and son, and totally contrary to the clear 
teaching of the ISTew Testament. It will suffice to 
set the contrast clearly before the reader's mind. 
Character-building must have a bed-rock on which to 
erect an abiding structure. That foundation is a full 
forgiveness through Jesus Christ, with a promise of 
sufficient grace to overcome sin, according as the 
p 



242 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

recipient is faithful to receive the offered power. 
A further fundamental difference is in the em- 
phasis of Protestantism upon the liberty of direct 
and immediate access to God our loving Father, as 
children in fellowship with Him, whereas the older 
Church had developed a system of mediation through 
priests and saints. Notwithstanding the plain teach- 
ing in the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the He- 
brews, this system of priestly intercession has been 
developed until the conception of full and free ac- 
cess to God is not enjoyed by thousands of the ad- 
herents of the Christian faith, thus suffering alloy. 

The vigorous spirit of independence in 
Direct ac- ox ■»■ 

cess to the struggles for civil and religious lib- 

eled to er ^ * n m0 ^ ern history has been noth- 

us through ing less than the history of Protestant- 
ism. These men know only one spirit- 
ual Father, the living God, and only one great High 
Priest, Jesus Christ the Saviour. In Him they come 
into the sonship with God, and grow into the con- 
scious blessings of a prayer-life in which the sweet- 
ness of salvation is in the promise of full forgive- 
ness, without the torturing thought of some sins still 
unforgiven, and in the immediate reception from 
God of evident answers to prayer, and tokens of His 
great love. 

It is out of this conception of the Fatherhood of 
God that we have come to that conception of the 
brotherhood of men which is giving character to all 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 243 

our modern development of human relationships. 
Christ's teachings are responsible for this, and many 
Christians realize that all the agitation and revolu- 
tion which mark the struggles of men toward liberty, 
as they see it, are but the breaking of the old stag- 
nation and apathy of lazy centuries 

/. -n 11 , The new 

now past forever. J3ut today the wak- apprecia- 

ing Church stands somewhat dazed by brother- 
its discovery. It faces a gigantic task hood of 
with hesitant faith on the part of 
many who call themselves the followers of Christ. 
It is not for us to reproach our fathers, but to see 
that our children are not given reason to reproach 
us. For us the battle is on. For us the tremendous 
purpose of Christ to win a world from sin is now 
clear, and His command undeniable. We see what 
it means today, as our fathers could not, for we have 
sent out the advance guards, and back from the fir- 
ing line they are bringing us accurate information 
regarding the nature of the task. We behold the 
essential unity of the whole human race. We see 
the sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ to save every 
man who lives on the globe. And we see our duty 
clear to give that Gospel to the whole world. 

When we turn from our own land, where Chris- 
tianity is best established, to study the nations of the 
world which are not Christian, we have cause for 
rejoicing because of what has been begun for their 
redemption. But it is the merest beginning. Mil- 



244 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

lions of men, women and children have not heard of 
Christ, and are dying in the darkness of ignorance 
and despair. In every non-Christian land they wait 
for the light which we are able to give them. Let 
any Christian man try to conceive what his life 
would be, if Christ were taken out of it ! But just 
that is the state of these millions who have him not. 
Robert Speer quotes the following statement from 
an address at Madras by Swami Vivekenanda : "The 
most hideous ceremonies, the most horrible and most 
obscene books that human hands ever wrote, or hu- 
man brain ever conceived, the most bestial forms 

that ever passed under the name of re- 
tions in ligion, have all been the creation of de- 

non-chris- graded Buddhism." Rudyard Kipling, 

anxious to give a sympathetic state- 
ment about India, is compelled to say: "You can't 
gather figs from thistles; and so long as the system 
of infant marriage, the prohibition of the remarriage 
of widows, the life-long imprisonment of wives in a 
worse than penal imprisonment, and the withhold- 
ing from them of any kind of education, (Only two 
per cent of women in India can read,) or treatment 
as rational beings continues, the country cannot ad- 
vance a step. Half of it is morally dead, and worse 
than dead, and that is just the half from which we 
have a right to look for the best impulses. It is right 
here where the trouble is, and not in any political 
considerations whatsoever. The foundations of their 
life are rotten — utterly, bestially rotten. The men 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 245 

talk of their rights and privileges. I have seen the 
women that bore these very men; and again — may 
God forgive the men." 

It is when we face conditions like these in foreign 
lands that we begin to realize what Christianity must 
see its mission to be. There was a time when the 
Church stood for little more than public worship. 
But today its conception has broadened until it recog- 
nizes that nothing short of an influence, vitalizing 
and redemptive, reaching to every part of human 
life, to every interest of the home, the city and the 
state, will achieve that which is evidently in the mind 
of Christ for the saving of the world. The intelli- 
gent Christian now sees that the religion of Christ 
must be the dominant power in the progress of hu- 
manity toward the sonship of God. Moreover he 
does not need to go to non-Christian lands to realize 
this. In the densely populated sec- 
tions of our great cities the need is at Chnstian- 

b lty must 

his very door. The scientific belief in seek to 

Christianity is justified by nothing every part 
more than by the way it is beginning of human 
to grapple with this gigantic task at 
home and abroad. The Christian Church now knows 
it would be unworthy of its Lord except as it in- 
cludes in its purpose the development of the spirit 
of Jesus Christ in the whole moral, social and polit- 
ical life of the people. This means work for the up- 
lifting of the whole man. But it will never mean 
the ignoring of the spiritual man, in the false hope 



246 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of redeeming human life by external applications of 
whatever sort. The difficulty with mankind is sin. 
Only as we deal with human sin shall we solve the 
problem of sanitation, of taxation and all the other 
problems of civilization. All these things are the 
fruit of the redemption from sin through Christ. 
That is the root. That is the fountain. Make that 
sweet and the waters of the stream will cleanse and 
satisfy the thirsty soul. 

Still more do we appreciate the stupendous task 
when we pause to consider that America is not more 
than one-fourth Christian. In easy phrase we call 
ourselves a Christian nation; but the true Christian 
nation is far from being realized in our midst. The 
fact that we have made progress is not forgotten, 
when we honestly face all the dark lines in the pic- 
ture. In a century the Church membership has in- 
creased from one in thirteen in the population to 
one in four. But that still means one-fourth. When 
you count the sympathetic adherents of the Church, 
they will not more than off-set the 

America merely nominal membership on printed 

not more _, " _ TT . . . 

than one- rolls. With vice rampant and lmpu- 

ChriBtian dent, with wealth luxurious and selfish, 

with war between nations and strife 
between classes, with race prejudices deep and hate- 
ful, with Mormonism eating like a cancer at the 
nation's heart, with national, state and city govern- 
ments dependant for revenue upon a traffic that is 
blighting thousands of homes and wrecking thou- 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 247 

sands of characters, with the Church itself all too 
complacent and indifferent in the midst of such con- 
ditions as these, we may well realize that America 
is not more than one-fourth Christian. Our fair her- 
itage is not yet redeemed, and there is no magic 
charm about the word American. The only word 
which guarantees the future is that of Jesus Christ 
written upon human hearts and shining in Christian 
service for dying men. Our task is just begun. 

The scientific inquiry in view of these facts must 
be — What is Christianity now seeking to do to meet 
this need? And how is the work resulting in our 
time ? Primarily it is seeking to give the knowledge 
of the personal Christ, as the atoning Saviour, to all 
men. Incidentally, and in all sorts of ways, it is 
seeking to develop the fullness of the Christian life 
into which Christ has been welcomed. Sometimes 
it is recognized that philanthropy is a stepping stone 
to the point of vantage from which to preach Christ, 
but philanthropy in itself would not suffice ; for with- 
out the living Christ all else will prove insufficient 
to solve the problem of the human soul. Among the 

famine stricken the Christian goes to 

• -ii Christ 

feed the hungry with bread, but never first, to be 

forgetting their need of the living fej^JJjJ. 

Bread for the starving soul. Into thing _ 

crowded tenements Christian agencies 

go to open clearings for city parks, and more light in 

modern apartments; but in the hope that thus they 

can secure a hearing as they speak of the "life which 



248 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

is the light of men." Christian schools in both 
Christian and non-Christian lands teach boys and 
girls the fundamentals of education, teach them 
trades and professions, teach them by object-lesson 
and precept how to make a Christian home ; but all 
these are but features which accompany the funda- 
mental purpose to teach them Christ. Christian 
physicians and nurses visit the sick, establish hos- 
pitals and clinics, where they heal the bodies and 
care for the dying; but always to give to the sin- 
sick souls the knowledge of the divine Physician who 
heals from the leprosy of sin, and abolishes death 
for the believers. These are not the tasks of dream- 
ers, but the services of self-sacrificing followers of 
Him who came "not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister." 

All this work, as we have said is just in its begin- 
nings, evident as we realize the needs yet to be met, 
and remember how slowly the progress of the race 
has developed through the centuries. Therefore as 
we note the results of these beginnings, we are to 
find the promise of the ultimate, victorious consum- 
mation. In America the most scientific test to be made 
of Christian progress is in noting that the standard 
of character is higher than it was ever known to be 
in the past. Two hundred years ago most of the 
colleges and churches were begun with lotteries. One 
hundred years ago prominent leaders in the Chris- 
tian Church were dealers in intoxicating liquor. 
Mr. Gladstone told us that when he was a boy all 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 249 

gentlemen used profanity. Fifty years ago to buy 
and sell ones's fellow-men as slaves in no way 
effected a man's standing as a Christian gentleman. 
Within recent years Parnell was defeated for par- 
liament and Breckenridge for congress because, for 
the first time, the people demanded that a man's 
private life should not be known to be impure, if 
he hoped to obtain public office. "Beform" is a word 

which now commands the best thought 

Some 
and the truest allegiance of the best proof oi 

people. ISTor is this encouraging pro- Sg power 
gress to be noted only in Christian of Chris- 
lands. Gen. J. W. Phelps wrote of 
Madagascar: "During the present century, and 
chiefly through missionary agency, Madagascar has 
passed from a state of pagan barbarism to one of 
Christian civilization, in which it has entered and 
taken a stand among the Christian nations of the 
world." Of the work of Christians in the Malay 
Archipeligo, A. B. Wallace has written: "They 
have assisted the Government in changing a 
savage into a civilized community in a wonderfully 
short space of time." Karl Bitter declared the 
transformation of the cannibals of New Zealand 
through the influence of Christianity to be "the 
standing miracle of the age." In a former chapter 
we quoted the testimony of Darwin as to the mar- 
vellous changes wrought by Christianity in Terra 
del Fuego. The Administration reports for British 
Burmah, for 1881, state that "Christianity contin- 



250 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

ues to spread among the Karens, to the great ad- 
vantage of the Commonwealth, and the Christian 
communities are more industrious, better educated, 
and more law-abiding than the villages around 
them." 

Now it must be remembered that these latter state- 
ments are made of sections where non-Christian re- 
ligions were dominant. Lord Salisbury said the na- 
tions of the earth must be divided into two parts, 
the living nations and the dying nations, and that 
the living nations are those where Christianity is 
the dominant religion. Prof. George Wm. Knox, 
one of the most careful students of comparative re- 
ligions has recently said: "It is an 
Christian- , ? . , . J „. . , 

ity vital- historic tact that not Hinduism, nor 

plea of °" Buddhism, nor Confucianism, nor Is- 

dying na- lam, but Christianity is the source of 

the efforts for freedom, for a higher 
social life, for the elevation of humanity, which are 
transforming the world." What candid student of 
history can deny this statement ? The Jiji Shimpo, 
one of the leading newspapers of Japan, has this to 
say of Christianity: "The Japanese cannot thank 
the Christian missionary too much for the admira- 
ble leaven that he introduced into their relations 
with foreigners, nor can they do better than follow the 
example that he has set in their intercourse with the 
Koreans." In 1871, the Eegent of Siam frankly told 
Mr. Seward, the United States Consul-General at 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 251 

Shanghai, "Siam has not been disciplined by Eng- 
lish and French guns, as China has, but the country 
has been opened by Christians." Sir Bartle Frere, 
formerly Governor of Bombay, earnestly asserted: 
"Whatever you may be told to the contrary, the 
teaching of Christianity among 160,000,000 of civil- 
ized, industrious Hindus and Mohammedans in In- 
dia is effecting changes, moral, social and political, 
which for extent and rapidity of effect are far more 
extraordinary than anything that you or your fathers 
have witnessed in modern Europe." 

By such proofs of its power all round the globe, 
Christianity has vindicated its claim to be the only 
true and adequate religion for mankind. By its in- 
creasing clearness of vision of Christ, by its con- 
demnation of its own failures, by its facing of the 
world's needs with the undaunted purpose to meet 
them, by its absolute confidence that the Gospel of 
Christ is all-sufficient in its power to transform the 
whole human race, by its challenge to all men who 
are the followers of Christ to rise to a higher level 
of consecration to His service, by its increasing 
growth into a higher type of Christian living, — by 

all these things it demands the recog- „, 

,. . . n n - ■ The claim 

nition of every scientific student 01 re- ofChris- 

ligious life and teaching, as being the JJSSdegdod 

growing embodiment of the spirit of by its 

Christ Himself, as the only Saviour of 

the world, who counted it certain that one day the 



252 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

world should be saved through His redeeming truth 
and redeeming love. Its spirit is more and more 
inclusive, rather than exclusive, as it touches that 
in other faiths which may be preparatory to its ful- 
ness of truth. Its method is conciliatory, rather 
than condemnatory, as Christians realize that they 
are just a little further along in the making of a 
Christ character than those with whom they deal. 
Its effort is for a realization of the brotherhood of 
men, by bringing all men into the only true brother- 
hood, namely that in which all come into the son- 
ship of God through Jesus Christ. 

But what then is the scientific demand upon all 
men who believe in righteousness and in the duty to 
advance it in all the earth? That demand is first 
upon the Christian who has identified himself with 
the organized movement of Christianity, the Chris- 
tian Church. The facts mentioned in this chapter 
point most clearly the way for all such to walk. 
There is a manifest need of such a radical change 
in the general life of the Church as will strip it of 
its complacency and selfishness. There must come 
into the life of all who call themselves Christians 
such an era of self-denial as we have not yet begun 
to cultivate. Until that era comes, until we hear our 
blessed Christ saying: "I am thirsty, and ye give 
me no drink. I am hungry, and ye give me no 
meat," and leap with swift feet to carry to Him the 
water of life and the bread of life, realizing that 
inasmuch as we do it unto one of the least of His, 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 253 

we do it unto Him, — until that day comes, the 

Church will still drag its way wearily 

along, and we will need to measure its T ?® cl . aim 

b ' m m of Chris- 

progress by centuries in order to dis- tianity 

cover its true power. That power is Christian, 
apparent, but it should be an inspira- 
tion to us to gird ourselves for such service as good 
soldiers of Jesus Christ, as the Church has never yet 
given to him. We are to be pitied because of our 
selfish indifference to the needs of the millions who 
know not Christ and the blessings which go with that 
knowledge. The world's need is for a prophet, with 
a heart aflame with the love of Christ, with the con- 
straining love of Christ burdening his soul because 
of a dying world, with a message of such power as 
to strike condemnation and shame to the heart of 
the Church of today, until those who call themselves 
Christians shall actually "seek first the Kingdom 
of God and His righteousness," and let all other 
things be added as God shall see best. 

But the scientific demand of Christianity is also 
upon every man who has any faith and hope in Jesus 
Christ as his Saviour. There are many such who are 
not openly identified with the Christian cause. For 
various insufficient reasons they shirk the clearer 
claim of this great cause and of their Saviour Him- 
self upon their open allegiance. The manifest bless- 
ings which follow organization, and the manifest 
necessity of organization in order to effective serv- 
ice in the spread of the Gospel over the world, both 



254 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

justify the institution of the Church, in its com- 
munion and its activities. The day is past when 
the Church seeks to exalt non-essen- 

ofchrfs? 1 ^ a * s amon g * ts P e °ple. That day in the 
tiantiy up- past was marked, in so far, by a weak- 
beifevers. ness largely left behind. The great 
fundamentals essential to an intelligent 
faith in Jesus Christ are now emphasized by all 
Evangelical Churches, and secondary truths, more 
or less important, are matters of freedom in the realm 
of individual liberty. We have set forth in our dis- 
cussions those truths which are vital to a scientific 
faith in Christ and in Christianity. We believe no 
man who desires for himself, and for his fellow-men, 
a character like unto that of Christ, can fail to see 
that he must go to Christ for his redemption from 
sin into the sonship of God, and that he must take 
his place with the followers of Christ in the effort to 
help every other man, whose life he may touch in 
any way, to know Christ as the only Saviour from 
sin unto God. 

Let the reader review the marginal index of this 
chapter. Let him recall the emphasis of the need 
of an honest attitude toward the claim of the truth 
which was made in an earlier chapter. Let him face 
with just such an honest attitude the claim which 
Jesus Christ makes upon him to give his life, as a 
redeemed servant of the divine Master, to the sub- 
lime task of helping to save this world. Let him 
face the need of a deeper consecration in Christian 



THE SCIENTIFIC BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY. 255 

living than the Church of Christ knows generally 
today, with the determination to make 
one life count for a higher, stronger, counts one 
truer Christian service, unselfish and or hasten 
joyous. Let him seek to have that the re- 
which is to he done for us, and in us, 
be made manifest in that which is being done by us. 
Let him plan to do this at once, without waiting to 
see how the other man will do. Let him cultivate 
such a prayer-life as will develop the individual re- 
lationship with Christ, on the one hand, as will en- 
able him and compel him to develop Christ-like re- 
lations with men, on the other hand, day by day. 
It is no longer a matter of doubt that Christianity 
will one day victoriously fill the earth. But it is a 
question which each one must answer as to what 
part he will have in retarding that glad day, or in 
hastening its coming. 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 



257 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 

One of the most distinctive statements in the New 
Testament is that in Paul's second letter to Timo- 
thy, (2 Tim. 1 : 10) : "Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath 
abolished death, and hath brought life and immor- 
tality to light through the Gospel.' 7 It must be 
apparent to every thoughtful man that it would be 
a superficial interpretation of this statement which 
would count it as having particular, not to say ex- 
clusive reference to the continued existence of the 
soul beyond this earthly life. But many have thus 
applied it. Yet a scientific investigation into the 
significance of immortality must base 
such inquiry upon the character of the Christ has 
life whose continuance is considered. life and 
Unless the character of the life be itytoiight. 
worth while, its continued existence is 
not worth while. A prodigal aristocrat came to Tal- 
leyrand for assistance, exclaiming: "I must live, 
you know!" But Talleyrand quietly replied: "I 
do not see the necessity." In fact there are evidences 
to show that just because this life was not counted 
a blessing, men have not only not wished to continue 
it, but have hastened their death. Aristophanes 

259 



260 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

pictures such a man for us in one of his plays. The 
Buddhistic doctrine of Nirvana is just this emphasis 
of the bliss of ceasing to have a conscious existence. 
The Jews divided into Pharisees and Sadducees be- 
cause the latter denied the resurrection, and that 
was because they did not see the desirability of a 
continued life. 

Therefore it is profoundly important to realize 
that in bringing life to light Christ's first work was 
to give men to see that life here is to be made worth 
while. Unless that be done, there is no promise for 
a life to come. Unless redeeming power can win 
here, in the realm of human experience, there can 
be no such assurance as will justify a scientific faith 
in a power able to make life desirable anywhere else 
in the future years. The logic of our thought is 
therefore clear. It is our outlook for life here which 
must be our ground for a hope for a 
first pur- life forever. The character of that 

p ° se *2. outlook, determined by the facts, must 

value of inevitably put quality into the hope of 

men. Suppose Christianity were not 
making good its claim ! Suppose men could not see 
the light shining in the pathway of human progress ! 
Then no joy would be quickened in millions of souls 
at the thought of dragging on wearily through end- 
less years of such existence as they know here and 
now. Hence it was that Christ brought life to light, 
and counted it His primary task to make effective 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. . 261 

His redemptive forces for this earth in point of 
time. 

It is suggestive that Christ in His teaching did 
not dwell at great length upon the subject of the fu- 
ture life. He was first concerned to have the King- 
dom of Heaven begin in men's hearts at once. The 
naturalness of its continuance would appear in the 
nature of things. It is the character of Christ's life 
which makes it easy and natural and reasonable to 
believe His statement that He will continue to live. 
All the historic material which points to the fact of 
His resurrection on the third day after His crucifix- 
ion is valuable and important; but it would have 
little effect upon men unless the actual 

power of the living Christ continued Our faith 
. t - , t , P . inimmor- 

to quicken men out 01 the death 01 sin tality rests 

and self into the new life of sonship present 6 

with God. What would it signify that power of 

He arose, if we had no token that His Christ. 

victory was meant to be available for 

us victoriously? But His power is here. It is the 

power which men beheld in Him, as He lived among 

them in the flesh, still shining out, manifesting the 

life of the eternal God as our loving Father. It is 

because of this that we have come to know that we 

are not the children of the dust, but are the children 

of the King immortal and eternal, and heirs of "an 

inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and 

that fadeth not away." 



262 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

When we speak of the scientific outlook and hope, 
we are still in the realm of scientific faith. Hope is 
simply the flowering of faith. There are certain 
facts which contribute to the strengthening of the 
Christian's faith in the continued life of men, to 
which we will refer. But let us remember that we 
are talking about faith as something different from 
knowledge. Many fail to discriminate here. Faith 
is not final proof. It is an intelligent 
notciaim 8 conviction where final proof is impossi- 
finai proof, ble. It is the scientific attitude toward 
fidentbe- the unknown, regarding that which is 

cause of probable, in view of that which we do 

actually know. These facts in history 
and experience compel us, in consistency, to believe 
certain things about that which reaches beyond our 
present experience, and beyond our present ability to 
prove. It is, as we have shown in the chapter on Faith, 
that confidence which gives us inspiration and cour- 
age and a quiet peace free from doubt ; but it is still 
faith. a lSTow we see through a glass darkly; but 
then face to face: (1 Cor. 13: 12.) now we know 
in part; but then we shall know even as we are 
known. " 

There are intimations of immortality which have 
been noted in the realm of scientific research, which 
confirm the Christian's faith. Biologists tell us 
that in the cell life it is ever out of a dying cell that 
new life appears. Properly ripened seeds placed in 
certain conditions will actually live through thou- 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 263 

sands of years, and seem really immortal. The 
grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, but 
out of that death there springs a new and larger 
life. The recurrence of the spring time witnesses 
to the persistence of life. The phenomena of spirit, 
to which we have referred in former chapters, indi- 
cate that it is spirit which abides, 
while material things are temporal. tionsofim- 

The most recent scientific contributions mortality 
, . , . . , i r in nature. 

to this subject are m the realm 01 psy- 
chology. There are leading specialists in psychology 
from some of our most prominent universities who 
have investigated the phenomena which appear to 
point to the continued existence of the human spirit. 
Such men as Professors James of Harvard, Hyslop 
of Columbia, Hodgson of Cambridge, and others, all 
testify that the facts which have come under their 
observation compel them to believe that the evidence 
is sufficient to demonstrate this continued existence 
of the discarnate spirit. In so far as the dictum of 
science counts with men, this verdict of the leaders 
in the department of modern psychology is to be 
noted as confirming the Christian faith most hear- 
tily. This is the latest contribution of science to 
religion. 

There is a consideration of even stronger character 
as we noted the evident capacity of the human soul 
to rise into the fellowship of God. Man is gifted 
with the germs of infinite development. There is 
in the human soul an ever recurring conviction that 



264 SCIENTIFIC PAITjS. 

something larger and higher is waiting to be real- 
ized beyond that yet attained. There is a moral dis- 
cernment, an inherent longing for spiritual unfold- 
ing, an enkindling hope of immortality. These are 
so many pledges of the Creator written into the very 
fibre of the human soul. All the progress of creation 
has pointed upward to something still higher in the 
sweep of the evolution of life. This 
pacTtyfor capacity to reach Godward is the 

fellowship prophecy of its fulfillment, for all na- 
with God. 

ture has ever been faithful to satisfy 

the fullest capacity of the lower forms of creation. 
To believe that death is the end of all this develop- 
ment of life would be to count the universe a failure, 
and to deny the conviction of the poet that there is 
a "far off divine event toward which the whole crea- 
tion moves." We recall the evidence of love in all 
law, and the evidence of the tendency to develop in- 
dividuality in the creature, and we say these intima- 
tions in nature which point to the continued existence 
of the human spirit have a strong probability in 
their favor. This probability is made stronger by 
the fact that men from the beginning of human his- 
tory have believed in this continued life, and have 
clung to it as a cherished hope, and dreamed of it 
as a fulfillment of the things unfinished here. 

But when all these intimations are noted, their in- 
adequacy to satisfy the human soul is apparent. The 
reason has been already stated. Nothing but the power 
which can bring life to light here can throw any light 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 265 

upon the problem of immortality which will satisfy 
mankind. It is when Jesus Christ speaks out of that 
marvelous life, which we have attempted to de- 
scribe in the seventh chapter, that men are ready to 
hear. No other has thus spoken. That was a sig- 
nificant moment, (John 6: 66-68) 

when some of His disciples turned Still the 

r only rea- 

away from following him because of sonable 

some hard sayings, and He turned to Christ. 
those who knew Him best, saying, 
"Will ye also go away?" "Then Peter answered 
Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life." It is because He lived before 
them in the continuous manifestation of the power of 
the living God, that men became convinced that they 
were to be lifted into the presence of God through 
Him. That is the reason for the fact that thousands 
of believing followers, through the centuries, have 
had such an unspeakable comfort from those blessed 
words which He spake, as He was about to go to the 
Father again : "Let not your heart be troubled : ye 
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's 
house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would 
have told you. (John 14: 1-3.) I go to prepare a 
place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for 
you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself ; 
that where I am, there ye may be also." 

This same Christ, as we have shown, is living to- 
day with far larger place in the world's life than He 
had then. Science teaches that the final test of 



266 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

power is life. How few are the names that live out 
of the past ! How few the lives that have power in 
our lives today ! And let it be noted that whatever 
truly lives is more and more centered in Jesus Christ. 
Every passing century finds Christ holding an in- 
creasing place in the living forces at work in human 
life. We have spoken of the reality 
Living f j-^g unseeru That reality must he 

power still t ... 

manifest emphasized again in this connection. 

ing Christ. ^ * s w ^ en the human soul has come 
into the sonship with Christ, and has 
realized that the most vital experience in all its con- 
scious life is the power of Jesus Christ to enable us 
to die unto sin and live unto righteousness, — it is 
then that he knows what the Apostle Paul meant 
when he cried : "I know whom I have believed, and 
am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I 
have committed unto Him against that day." 
(2 Tim. 1: 12.) To such the horizon broadens and 
sweeps past the narrow limitations of earth and time, 
and again we must revise the old saying "seeing is 
believing," and say, "believing is seeing." 

It is important to appreciate clearly the scientific 
method by which the Christian comes to his con- 
fident faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ concern- 
ing the life to come. He begins with the teachings 
concerning this life, and puts them to the test. All 
that Christ has taught concerning this life he has 
proved to be true. Every effort to put 
tested and Christ's teachings into the daily life 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 267 

has demonstrated that Christ's is the proved as 
one life worth living here. Its joy, its worthy 
comfort, its strength, its victory, are thfsliffe ° r 
all the realities of actual experience to 
the earnest soul. Therefore one thing is forever set- 
tled for men, namely, that for this life Christ is the 
best Gnide, and the best Master we can have. It is 
the scientific experience of realizing the product 
which comes from accepting the greatest specialist in 
character as our Teacher and Lord. Men who claim 
to desire the best this life can afford are not true to 
this undeniable fact in the history of Christian ex- 
experience, unless they take Christ for their Lord 
for this life, if for nothing more. 

But Christ has also taught us of the continued life 
of the immortal soul. Can we do anything toward 
proving the truth of this teaching also ? Yes. We 
can do exactly what all scientists do with a state- 
ment which can be taken as a working hypothesis. 
The whole point to Christ's teaching is that men are 
to live as if His teaching is true. Exactly this is 
the scientific process. Whenever a statement is put 
forth by a student of science announc- 
ing his conviction concerning some- J 10 ? 7 to 
thing as probable in the realm of the Christ's 
unknown, men at once test his teaching concern- 
by acting as if it were true, in order to j n ? the 1 .. 
& . future life. 

see what will be the result. If the re- 
sult of the experiment be according to the teaching, 
it is accepted as true thenceforth; but if the result 



268 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

should disappoint, then the teaching is rejected. Now 
this is exactly the scientific method of the Christian. 
He has taken Christ's teaching concerning the con- 
tinued life of man, and has tested it by living as if it 
is true. He has lived as unto God, rather than as 
unto men. He has builded character for eternity, 
not simply a reputation for time. And what is the 
result ? Divide the race into two classes : first, those 
who believe in the teaching of Christ, and live ac- 
cordingly ; and second, those who do not. The proof 
is overwhelming. The teaching and the life agree. 
That which Christ has promised to those who live 
thus has been realized. Therefore science demands 
that men, having thus scientifically tested the teach- 
ings of Christ, as far as man can, must believe His 
teachings to be true. 

There is no possible escape from this faith as 
scientific, if men will be true to the scientific method 
which the Christian applies at this point. More- 
over there is no more room to wonder why the Chris- 
tian is so confident of His living, mighty Saviour. 
For him to doubt would be to deny the most real ex- 
perience of his inmost soul. This fact also explains 
the growing place of the Christian faith in human 
life the world over. It is the power of the living 
Christ touching men as they catch a vision of the 
beauty of the outlook from the earthly 

No escape { fa e heavenly, the inspiration in the 

from the J9 . f 

Christian's truth that character is the exponent oi 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 269 
the undying soul, and the glorious hope ho . pe *?. 

SClGllClIlC. 

of the development of the Christian 
life, begun here, through the endless years. Dr. 
James Orr has pointed out with careful detail the 
evidence of the movement from skepticism to faith 
in the thinking world. It is inevitable. There may 
be backward eddies at the edges of the stream, but 
it is rolling onward in increasing power. Faith was 
never as strong as it is today, and it faces the gigantic 
task of conquering unbelief and ignorance and sin 
with a sublime confidence that is in itself an in- 
spiration to earnest men. It is this outlook, based 
upon actual experience, which compels the blessed 
hope of the Christian concerning the continuing life 
of the redeemed in Jesus Christ their risen Lord. 

There are certain questions which have been raised 
by inquiring minds in connection with this discus- 
sion, to which some reference should be made. One 
is as to the nature of the mode of subsistence by the 
immortal spirit. Here we have a material body 
which is laid aside. How can we imagine the dis- 
carnate spirit getting on ? The Apostle Paul has 
dealt with the problem in a strictly scientific way. 
(1 Cor. 15 : 25-54.) He points out the fundamental 
fact, manifest in nature, that the Creator has always 
attended to these matters, and will continue to do so 
in the ongoing of the life of His creatures. Then 
Paul points out that the distinctive feature about 
each creature is that it has been given a body, a mode 



270 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

of subsistence, exactly adapted to its environment. 
He calls attention to the fact that there is one flesh 

of birds, another of fish and another of 
about the man. That is to say, these three 
immortal creatures live in different sorts of 

mode of environment, and each is given a mode 

subsist- £ SUDS i s tence, by means of a physical 

body, which is adapted to its environ- 
ment. Ko one of the three could subsist as the others 
do. This lesson from creation is clear. The im- 
mortal spirit will have an available medium, an ap- 
propriate body, a mode of subsistence exactly adapted 
to the environment in which he is to live. Paul 
teaches clearly that it is not the same body which is 
here laid aside, but one which God will give, as it 
pleaseth Him, in view of His purpose as to the char- 
acter of the continuing life. We have already noted 
the fact of the freedom of the spirit even in con- 
nection with this earthly body, and we can scien- 
tifically conceive of a relation of the spirit to a 
material substance, like light for instance, which will 
enable a freedom of action beyond our power to ap- 
preciate now. The God who gives the life and its 
power will take care of the method of its exercise. 

Another query which has been a source of doubt 
and unbelief in many minds is in regard to the sal- 
vation of those who do not accept Christ in this life, 
whether knowing Him and rejecting Him willfully, 
or not having an opportunity to know Him. So far 
as science throws light on the question its message 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 271 

has no hope. For science clearly teaches that every- 
where a tendency continued develops into perma- 
nency. Therefore science insists that a man who 
persists in neglecting his spiritual welfare here is 
not likely ever to be concerned about it. Science will 
not allow that easy supposition of so many that of 

course men will be earnest in the future 

t i , . (. , Science 

about the making 01 character as unto gives no 

God, who are not earnest about it now. !J2tJi?« 
7 one wno 

Science gives no sign of hope to the man rejects 
who refuses to enter into the sonship 
of God now in the day of his opportunity. Science 
teaches that a plastic time in the growth of every liv- 
ing thing passes, and its form becomes fixed at last. 
Science tells a man that if a capacity is neglected it 
ceases to exist. Science teaches that failure to obey 
the law of growth means deterioration and death. 
Science teaches that if a functional member is not 
exercised, it becomes atrophied, helpless and useless. 
To the man, therefore, who knows of the way of life 
in Christ, who has the offer of adoption into the son- 
ship of God, and who ignores, or neglects, or refuses 
the same, science has no word of hope, but only un- 
ceasing condemnation. For all those who have not 
had the opportunity to know Christ, the New Testa- 
ment teaches that God is just, and will deal with 
them according to their light. We can trust Him 
and His wondrous love. 

But these considerations must intensify again our 
sense of responsibility in a two-fold way. First, our 



272 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

responsibility to make the most of our opportunities 
to grow into the fullness of the sonship of God while 
the time is still available for us. John the beloved 
puts the thought thus for us (1 John 3:1-3) : "Be- 
hold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! 
Beloved, now are we the sons of God ; and it doth not 
yet appear what we shall be : but we know that when 
He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall 
see Him as He is. And every man who hath this 
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 
Ah, yes! that is the vital truth. We 

We must m ay seriously question our hearts as to 

make the _ J , J \ 

most of the character oi our real hope, as evi- 

tuniSes to denced by our striving to be pure. What 

realize a heed are we giving to the teachings of 

Christ-like . ,-. ■.,. ^ £ 

character. science concerning the cultivation oi 

the spiritual life? What inspiration 
are we finding in the promises of God for growth 
into the sonship with Christ? Surely, if this be 
worth anything, it is worth everything to the im- 
mortal soul! Yet many live as if it were not 
supreme. All the facts we have considered lead us 
to wonder how sane men will thus live in indifference 
to the way of truest blessings. Our day is passing. 
It is ours to sieze its opportunities and realize the 
Christian character at its most and at its best. 

Then the second phase of the responsibility is in 
connection with our stewardship, and the trust which 
is upon us to live Christ and to give Christ, in view 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 273 

of the need of our fellow men. Paul puts the thought 
in a very striking phrase, as he writes to the Colos- 
sians: "Christ in you is the hope of glory." (Col. 
1 : 27.) The apostle did not say "Christ in us," in- 
cluding himself with them. But his 
thought evidently was that Christians ^ more* 

must realize that the only hope of the earnest 

, , . ,, . about our 

coming glory being actually experi- steward- 

enced in the earth is that Christ shall slii P for 

souls. 

be given His place in the lives of others, 
and still others, until Christ is in every man. This 
is the intelligent ground for the hope. We have seen 
how it is increasing; but we also see the reason for 
the plea for greater consecration and zeal until the 
whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Meantime, 
as the earthly tenement is left behind, and the re- 
deemed spirits enter into the joy of the Lord, to be- 
hold the King in His beauty, that blessed word of the 
apostle is upon our lips, as we bid our loved ones fare- 
well for a little time — "Christ in you is the hope of 
glory." Because He lives, they and we shall live 
also. We smile through the tears as we rise out of 
the trials into triumph, out of griefs into the glimpse 
of glory, out of sorrow into song. 

Another question about which many wonder with 
longing is whether we shall know our beloved in the 
future life. It is a question which should never 
have occasioned so much of worry on the part of so 
many Christians, for the teaching of the Bible is 
perfectly clear. The disciples on the mount of trans- 



274 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

figuration recognized Moses and Elijah whom they 

had never seen in the flesh. (Matt. 17:1-8.) In 

the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Christ 

clearly teaches the recognition in the unseen world 

of those who knew each other here. 
Our loved 
ones will (Luke 16:24.) Moreover all the con- 

nized C08 ~ siderations which enter into the appre- 

among the ciation of the continued development of 
redeemed. . . , . 

our present capacities and powers make 

it impossible to have intelligent conceptions of that 
life without realizing that we will then enjoy all the 
powers which we enjoy now, and in far greater meas- 
ure. We have spoken of the teaching in nature that 
God is concerned in the development of individuality 
in His creatures. That same concern enters into 
the scientific conception of the continued life of the 
human spirit. In full accord with these considera- 
tions are the specific words from the Apostle Paul, 
(1 Cor. 13: 12), "Now we know in part: then we 
shall know even as we are known." 

It would be desirable if the reader would turn at 
this point to the table of contents and read through 
again the entire movement of the thought of the 
book. From that survey of the whole teaching of 
nature and Scripture he would realize that every 
evidence points forward to the life of increasing 
activity and growth through the years. The present 
thought of man is only able to conceive of the possi- 
bilities of such development as limitless. Eternity 
will ever beckon us on to larger knowledge, to richer 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 275 

experience, to increasing fellowship in the sonship 
of God. The one regret will be that we were so heed- 
less of the life of God which we have now, and that 
we did not rejoice to do our Father's will in these days 
of privilege. The folly of our indifference now to the 
blessedness of Christ-like service is the pathos of 
Christian history. All the vision we may have of the 
joy of the redeemed should incite us 

now to such a completeness of consecra- Eternityto 

. be marked 

tion, that it might be said of us, as of by an ever 

just one follower of Christ in the growth 
Scripture record : "He hath done what into the 
he could. She hath done what she God. 
could." It is for us to realize as our 
own working experience of the Christian life those 
words of the Apostle Paul, (2 Cor. 4:6-5:1), "God, 
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the 
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 
that the excellency of the power may be of God and 
not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not 
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not de- 
stroyed ; always bearing about in the body the dying 
of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might 
be made manifest in our body. . . . Knowing 
that He which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise 
up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 
For which cause we faint not ; but though 



276 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

our outward man perish, yet the inward man is re- 
newed day by day. For our light affliction, which is 
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory; while we look not 
at the things which are seen ; but at the things which 
are not seen : for the things which are seen are tem- 
poral; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 
For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- 
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
With such an outlook and such a hope we can 
enter with appreciation into the vision of John, whose 
prophetic eye saw the coming day when the living 
Christ, who is the only true source of the world's 
life, who is the only worthy Master of the world's 
service, who is the only certain Hope of the world's 
redemption, will be the one glorified object of the 
world's love and praise. With a sublime unfolding 
of imagination, John gives us the vision in these in- 
spiring words (Eev. 4: 1-2, 5: 1-13) : "After this I 
looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven; 
and the first voice which I heard was as it were of 
a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up 
hither, and I will show thee things which must be 
hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit : and 
behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on 
the throne. And I saw in the right hand of him that 
sat on the throne a book written within and on the 
backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong 



THE SCIENTIFIC OUTLOOK AND HOPE. 277 

angel proclaiming with a loud voice. Who is worthy 
to open the book, and to loose the seals 
thereof? And no man in heaven, nor The vision 
in earth, neither under the earth, was glory of 
able to open the book, neither to look Saviour!** 
thereon. And I wept much because no 
man was found worthy to open and to read the book, 
neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith 
unto me, Weep not, behold, the Lion of the tribe of 
Juda, the Boot of David, hath prevailed to open the 
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I 
beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the 
four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, 
stood a Lamb, as it had been slain. . . . And 
He came and took the book out of the right hand of 
Him that sat upon the throne. . . . And they 
sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take 
the book, and to open the seals thereof ; for thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out 
of every kindred, and tongue, and people and na- 
tion; and hast made us unto our God kings and 
priests : and we shall reign on the earth. And I be- 
held, and I heard the voice of many angels round 
about the throne, and the number of them was ten 
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
sands ; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb 
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wis- 
dom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and bless- 
ing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on 



278 SCIENTIFIC FAITH. 

earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the 
sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Bless- 
ing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him 
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for- 
ever and ever." 



INDEX. 



Page 

Abiding in Christ essential to growth 197, 219 

Access to God immediate 242 

Adam, the historic 123 

Adams, J. Q., on the Bible 104 

Adoption into sonship 188 

America only one-fourth Christian 246 

Anthropomorphic conceptions scientific for man 46 

Aristophanes on life 259 

Asceticism not Christianity 237 

Attitude, the right, toward truth 34 

Atomic theory, the faith of the scientists in the 41 

Atonement, the, by Christ 177 

Atonement, the necessity of the 178 

Atonement, the problem of the, in the realm of govern- 
ment • 179 

Baal and miracles 141 

Belief in God, the scientific 55 

Bible, the, a record of revelation 109 

Bible, the evidence of the reliability of the 116 

Bible, the harmony of the, with science 121 

Bible, the, human additions to 115 

Bible, the, inspired of God 130 

Bible, the, must be tested where studied 104 

Bible, the, opinions about 104, 106 

Bible, the plan of the ill 

Bible, the purpose of the 103 

Bible, the scientific belief in the 101 

Bible, the sufficiency of the 129 

279 



280 INDEX. 

Page 

Bible, the true perspective of the 112 

Blessing in the different spheres of life 214 

Body, the, in the future life 269 

Broadminded man, the truly 22, 45, 70 

Brotherhood of man, the 243 

Brugsch Bey on the accuracy of the Pentateuch 117 

Buddha and the truth 153 

Buddhism tested in India 102 

Burma improved by Christianity 249 

Capacity, the, of man to receive a revelation 91 

Capacity, the, of man to receive God 171, 264 

Carlyle on the Bible 130 

Causal reality, faith in 43 

Character building, spiritual photography 88 

Character, distinctive in man 75 

Character, must be sought by every honest man 27 

Character, perfect in Christ 87, 157 

Character, the, of the race, broken 78 

Character, the scientific belief in 75 

Christ had no human teacher 162 

Christ more than a man 156 

Christ offers you redemption 97 

Christ on the Old Testament 113 

Christ, relation to must be settled first 114 

Christ the best guide for this life 267 

Christ the continuous miracle 142 

Christ, the deity of 156 

Christ, the final resort to 35 

Christ the greatest specialist in character 25 

Christ the foundation of Christian faith 112 

Christ the point of perspective in the Bible 112 

Christ the revelation of God 143 

Christ, the scientific belief in 147 

Christ the world's only hope 233 

Christ's attitude toward men scientific. 30 

Christ's character perfect 87, 157 

Christ's earthly environment 162 

Christ's incarnation necessary 152 



INDEX. 281 

Page 

Christ's limitations in the flesh 159 

Christ's matchless teaching 166 

Christ's teaching concerning miracles 144 

Christian, the honest, scientific 33 

Christianity a growth into the knowledge of Christ 235 

Christianity must answer certain questions 231 

Christianity not asceticism 237 

Christianity not a conquest by force 238 

Christianity only partially successful 232 

Christianity, the claim of, vindicated 251 

Christianity, the progress of, slow 233 

Christianity, the scientific belief in 231 

Christians in the colleges 20 

Christians, not Christ, lacking 233 

Cicero on the misery of sin 86 

Cleanthes a suicide 87 

Coleridge on the Bible 108 

College teaching often lacks true proportion 32 

Colleges and the Bible 108 

Copyists and the Bible 119 

Confucianism answered by the life of China 102 

Confucius and the truth 153 

Consciousness, the nature of 81 

Copernicus 152 

Courage of conviction needed 31 

Dagon and miracles 141 

Darwin on the Bible and Christianity 106 

Denny on repentance 186 

Deity of Christ, the 156 

Design evidenced in nature 58 

Destiny, the, of each man in his own hand 96 

Difficulties in the Bible met 108 

Discipline necessary in restoration 85 

Disobedient, the, must be disciplined 85 

Discrepancies in the Bible explained 119 

Doubt not dominant 19 

Duty, how to determine 94 



282 INDEX. 

Page 

Egypt and the miracles 141 

Egyptology, the, of the Pentateuch exact 117 

Electricity "made flesh" 153 

Elijah's prayer for rain 213 

Eternity, the richer life of 274 

Evidence, the organs of 47 

Evidence of the reliability of the Bible 115 

Evil, the principle of, necessary to character 84 

Evil, the problem of 80 

Experience most real in the Christian's life 50 

Experience proves Christ true 28 

Explanation involves superiority 41 

Fact and mystery 21 

Facts, all, must be considered 44 

Facts, an age of 19 

Facts which relate to character 24 

Fairbairn on Christ 176 

Faith a working hypothesis 40, 267 

Faith explains all progress 51 

Faith in prayer 222 

Faith, the, of the Christian distinctive 52 

Faith, scientific, defined 39 

Fall of man, the fact of the 123 

Fatherhood of God, the 66, 164 

Feelings, the, are organs of evidence 47 

Fichte on law 173 

Figurative teaching in the Bible 123 

Fiske on the principle of evil 81 

Fiske on spiritual perfection 77 

Fiske on the superiority of man 76 

Folly, the, of ignoring sin 86 

Forgiveness comes after the atonement 183 

Four Gospels, the, explained 120 

Franklin's use of electricity 153 

Frere, Sir Bartle, on Christianity in India 251 

Froude on the book of Job 110 

Garfield's death an answer to prayer 225 



INDEX. 283 

Page 

George Eliot on the love of God 69 

George MacDonald on the love of God 69 

Gibson on the foundation of Christianity 112 

God must maintain law 78 

God revealed in Christ 143 

God self -limited in Jesus 158 

God's abhorrence of sin 184 

God's fatherhood 66, 164 

God's love in the gift of Christ 177 

God, the scientific belief in 55 

Goethe on the Bible 107 

Gospels, the, portray Christ 129 

Gough, John B 146 

Gladstone on the Bible 105 

Grant on the Bible 105 

Greek church, the, tested in the life of Russia 102 

Growth into sonship 191, 192 

Guilt distinguished from sin 79 

Harmony in nature dominant 43 

Healing of the sick in answer to prayer 224 

Herschel on the Bible 105 

Hinduism tested in the life of India 102 

Historic reliability of the Bible 114 

Holy life, a, necessary to the making of character 90 

Holy Spirit, the, in the life 221 

Hope, the, of the Christian, scientific 268 

Honest dealing with facts necessary 22 

Humanity of God, the meaning of the, for man 46 

Hume on miracles 136 

Immortality, intimations of 262 

Incarnation, every, has power 155 

Incarnation, the necessity of the, of Christ 152 

India the answer to Hinduism 102 

Individuality to be developed 206 

Individual man, the value of the 240 

Individual responsibility 255 

Inspiration of the Bible 115, 131 



284 INDEX. 

Page 

Instinct, the religious, in man 61 

Intercessory prayer 219 

James, Prof., on the reality of the unseen 45 

James, the apostle, on the violation of law 79 

Jefferson, Dr. C. E., on Unitarianism 175 

Jesus on suffering and the love of God 69 

Jiji Shimpo, the, on Christianity in Japan 250 

John's vision of the joy of the redeemed 276 

Jonah and miracles 141 

Jones, Sir ¥m, on the Bible 107 

Josephus on the morals of his time 161 

Kant on the Bible 106 

Kant on the evidence of God 59 

Kelvin on creative power 55 

Kelvin on miracles 138 

Kipling on India 244 

Knox on Christianity 250 

Knowledge necessary to Christian growth 192 

Law manifests love 63 

Law must be revered 78 

Lawlessness must not be ignored 84 

Lawlessness, the fatality of 79 

Leaders in religion, the only worthy ones 31 

Liberty, man's margin of 207 

Liebig on creative power 56 

Life a miracle 136 

Life and immortality 259 

Life here made worth while 260 

Life the test of power 266 

Linnaeus and the flowers 152 

Literary men and the Bible 107 

Locke on the Bible 107 

Lowell, J. R., on the conscious presence of God 63 

Love of God taught in nature . 63 

Lucretius on religion 87 

Luke's Gospel for the Greeks 121 

Luke's historic accuracy 170 



INDEX. 285 

Page 

Mabie on the Bible 108 

MacDonald, Geo., on the love of God 69 

Madagascar uplifted 249 

Malay Archipelago changed 249 

Manhood, the measure of 76 

Marching orders of Christ unchanged 236 

Mark's Gospel for the Romans 120 

Matthew's Gospel for the Jews 120 

Men of prayer 210 

Messiah, Christ's claim to be the 163 

Method, the scientific 21 

Mill, J. S., on the historic Christ 118 

Miracles as object lessons 139 

Miracles, discussion of, necessary 135 

Miracles, Kelvin on 138 

Miracles of grace 146 

Miracles, the purpose 140 

Miracles, the scientific belief in 135 

Mivart on the superiority of man 76 

Mohammedanism tested in Turkey 102 

Moody on prayer 31 

Moral development slow 124 

Moral responsibility of men, the 95 

Moral standards of the Old Testament explained 124 

Mormonism 246 

Moses and the truth 153 

Mozoomdar on the religious nature of man 61 

Mughier identified 117 

Napoleon's conviction concerning Christ 160 

Nature is in the hand of God 138 

Nature interfered with by man 138 

Nazareth the home of Jesus 161 

Nehemiah's prayer-life 212 

New Testament, the, historic 118 

New Testament, the, contains the fullness of truth . . 128 

New Zealand transformed 249 

Nirvana, the doctrine of 260 



286 INDEX. 

Page 

Obedience the secret of spiritual progress 126 

Object lessons demanded by pedagogy 139 

Old Testament saints 126 

Organs of evidence, the 47 

Orr on the increase of faith 269 

Outlook, the scientific 259 

Pagan despair 87 

Papal countries the answer to Roman Catholicism 102 

Patton on the Bible and inspiration 116 

Paul on man's destiny 77 

Paul on the Christian life 275 

Paul on the purpose of the Bible 103 

Pedagogy, the demands of 124 

Perfect manhood in Christ 77 

Personality a miracle 137 

Peter confessing Christ 165 

Phelps on Christianity in Madagascar 249 

Philanthropy and Christianity 247 

Plowing and praying 209 

Power, the, of the living Christ 266 

Prayer, the Lord's considered 217 

Prayer, the scientific belief in 203 

Prayer-life, the, considered 210 

Prayer-life, the key to sonship 204 

Praying and plowing 209 

Probabilities, the science of, against chance 58 

Prophet, a new, of self-denial, needed 253 

Protestant teaching about sin 241 

Protestantism tested in Protestant lands 102 

Providence taught in nature 205 

Psychologists on the continued life 263 

Ptolemy and the solar system 152 

Rawlinson on Nineveh 141 

Reality in the religious life 26 

Reality, the, of the unseen 45, 47 

Recipient, man's privilege as a 220 

Recipient, man's responsibility as a 95, 194 



INDEX. 287 

Page 

Recognition in heaven 274 

Redeeming love revealed 92 

Redemption through Christ, the 190 

Reflection is constructive 90 

Reformation, the, and its results 239 

Reliability of the Bible 115 

Religious instinct, the, in man 61 

Religious life, reality in the 26 

Renan on the Gospel record 118 

Repentance for sin not enough 181 

Repentance, the true nature of 186 

Responsibility, the, of man 93 

Responsibility, the, of the Christian 272 

Resurrection, the, of Christ 187 

Ritter on Christianity in New Zealand 249 

Roentgen and the X-ray 28 

Roman Catholicism and papal lands 102 

Roman citizenship 188 

Roman empire, the, and Christianity 238 

Romanes, Prof. Geo. J's. experience 23, 44 

Romanes on the religious instinct 61 

Romanes on the teaching of science concerning God.. 57 

Russia the answer to the Greek church 102 

Sadducees, the, and the future life 260 

Saladin and Richard 238 

Salisbury on creative power 56 

Salisbury on the failures of science 48 

Salisbury on the living and dying nations 250 

Salvation is health 79 

Salvation army, the, is optimistic 70 

Science against the Universalist 271 

Scientists, the testimony of, concerning the Bible .... 106 

Scientists, the faith of, in their realm 48 

Schopenhauer's pessimism 70 

Scott, Sir. W., on the Bible 108 

Secret believers 253 

Self-denial demanded 252 

Self-limitation, the, of God 158 



268 INDEX. 

Page 

Self-revelation of God 65 

Self-revelation of every spirit 64 

Seneca's despair 87 

Siam's Regent on Christianity 250 

Simeon an Old Testament saint 128 

Sin, a principle in the heart 79 

Sin contrary to the will of God 82, 83 

Sin, its fatality 79 

Sin is lawlessness 78 

Sin, the abhorrence of God, because of 184 

Sinlessness, the, of Christ 163 

Soldier, the Christian a 196 

Sonship of God, the, revealed in Christ 164, 167 

Sonship only explains Christ 168 

Soul-culture like agriculture 208 

Specialist, Christ the greatest in character 25 

Specialist the student must go to the 25 

Spencer on success 75 

Spencer on the feelings as organs of evidence 47 

Spirit, the Holy, in our prayer life 221 

Spirit, the nature of its activity 158 

Spirit, the self-revelation of, necessary 64 

Spiritual atmosphere, the, in the Old Testament 127 

Spiritual discernment scientific 29 

Spiritual good the end of all prayer 216 

Stability in the thinking world increasing 19 

Standard of character rising 248 

Statesmen on the Bible 104 

Suffering and the love of God 69 

Sufficiency, the, of the Bible 129 

Talleyrand and the prodigal 259 

Tennyson's confession of Christ 223 

Terra del Fuego changed by Christianity 106 

Testing the sacred writings of different nations 101 

Thoburn on adoption 191 

Thompson on the accuracy of the Scriptures 117 

Time, needed for growth 198, 234 

Trinity, the, discussed 172 



INDEX. 289 

Page 

Trustee, the Christian a 195 

Truth, the fulness of, in Christ 154 

Truths which are clear in all the Scripture. 125 

Turkey the answer to Mohammedanism 102 

Tyndall on prayer 31 

Union, the, of the human and divine 171 

Unitarianism 175 

United prayer 226 

Unseen, the reality of the 45 

Ur of the Chaldees identified 117 

Vicarious, the atonement was 135 

Virgin-birth, the, of Jesus 169 

Vision, the, of God 67 

Vivekenanda on Buddhism 244 

Wallace, A. R., on will force 60 

Wallace, A. R., on the Malay Archipelago 249 

Webster on the Bible 104 

Will, the, as an organ of evidence 47 

Will, every action of the, a miracle 56 

Will-force, the evidence of 62 

Witness, the Christian must be a 194, 195 

Word, every, must be made flesh 152 

Zaleucus, the historic case of 180 

Zeno a suicide 87 

Zoroaster and the truth 153 

S 



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